Poaching threatens African elephants 偷獵威脅非洲大象的生存

媒體英語會帶大家一起學習 BBC 撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。

《國際瀕危物種貿易公約》委員會（英文縮寫為 CITES）說偷獵行為和非法象牙交易有增不減。在最新報告中，CITES 警告說，為了獲取象牙而偷獵的情況已經造成了非洲大象的生存面臨非常嚴峻的威脅。 請聽 Imogen Foulkes 為 BBC 發回的報道。

20,000 elephants were illegally killed in Africa last year, the report shows. That figure far exceeds the growth rate of the elephant population. In some regions of Africa elephants are threatened with extinction.

The report also documents a clear increase in the number of large seizures - amounts of over 500 kg - of ivory in Africa. For the first time there were more such seizures in Africa than in Asia, an indication, the report suggests, of the involvement of transnational organised crime in the illegal ivory trade.

And while elephant conservationists do believe that increased ivory confiscation is a sign that law enforcement is improving, they also point out that demand for ivory remains very high, and that even in some of the monitored elephant populations, poaching is actually increasing.