# data[].attributes.body
There are many national parks or reserves in Africa where elephant habitat is protected. One factor that has convinced African governments to take strong measures to protect elephants is the rising importance of the tourist trade to their economies. Worldwide concern over the decline of the elephant led to a complete ban on the ivory trade in 1990. Some governments have cracked down hard on poachers. In some countries, park rangers are told to shoot poachers on sight. that the only effective solution is a total ban, because there is no way to distinguish ivory of elephants that were legally killed from that of elephants that were poached.

# data[].attributes.body
Some countries have established culling programs: park officials or hunters kill a predetermined number of elephants to keep herds manageable and minimize human-elephant conflicts. They are severely threatened. Hunting has been a major cause of the decline in elephant populations. Elephants became prized trophies for big-game hunters after Europeans arrived in Africa. Hunting elephants is no longer legal in many African countries, but poaching was widespread until very recently.

# data[].attributes.body
Up to 30,000 African elephants are killed each year for their tusks; that’s one every 15 minutes, a rate that populations cannot sustain. http://www.tusk.org/poaching-crisis/us

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rangers Holding Tusks of Killed Elephants 18inW

# data[].attributes.body
Wild elephants have strong family ties. The females and young are social, living in groups under the leadership of an older female or matriarch. Adult males are solitary, although they stay in contact with the females over great distances, using sounds well below the range of human hearing. Family groups communicate with each other using these low-frequency vibrations.

# data[].attributes.body
Elephants have played an important role in human economies, religion, and culture. The immense size, strength of this largest living land animal have made people of many cultures in a positive way for hundreds of years. Asian elephants have served as "beasts of burden" in war and peace. "Elephant: An Endangered Species." Bagheera. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.