11,000 Gabon Elephants Killed for Ivory Since 2004: Study

A staggering 11,000 elephants have been killed in Gabon's Minkebe National Park rainforest since 2004, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced Wednesday.

Gabon, a densely-forested central African country, is home to over half of Africa's forest elephants, with a population estimated to be about 40,000.

A new study conducted by Gabon's government along with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and WCS has revealed that two-thirds of its elephants have been killed by ivory poachers.

"This sad news from Gabon confirms that without a global commitment, great elephant populations will soon become a thing of the past," WCS president and CEO Cristián Samper said in a statement. "We believe that elephants can still be saved - but only if nations greatly increase their efforts to stop poaching while eliminating the illegal ivory trade through better enforcement and reduced demand."

Until recently, Gabon was considered to be less impacted by poaching than any other African country. But the rise in demand for ivory for use in ornaments in Asia and the Middle East has opened doors for illegal ivory trade.

In 2011, wildlife officials detected a significant increase in human activity in the Minkebe National Park. What used to be a small camp of 300 artisanal gold miners has now expanded to over 5,000 miners, poachers, and arms and drugs dealers in the park. Officials estimated that 50-100 elephants were being killed every day, as a result of an increase in demand for ivory and rise in prices of the product. Poaching is being carried out by gangs who are believed to be from neighboring Cameroon.

Since the survey results were announced, Gabon has stepped up efforts to prevent illegal ivory trading. Officials seized 20 tusks in the nation's capital of Libreville and arrested poachers who had illegally entered the country from Cameroon.

Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba announced that the country will pass a legislation that will discourage poachers from killing the elephants. He said that the prison terms for ivory poachers will be increased to three years, while those involved in both poaching and ivory trafficking will be awarded a jail term of 15 years.