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Between 1979 and 1989, the worldwide demand for ivory caused elephant populations to decline to dangerously low levels. During this period, poaching fuelled by ivory sales cut Africa's elephant population in half. Since they were big targets and sported the largest tusks, savannah elephants took the worst hit. But as soon as these elephants began to vanish, hunters

moved into the forests in search of the elephants' smaller relatives.

Recently their number stabilizes, due in large part to the 1 990 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on international ivory sales.

But in June, 1977 CITES voted partially to lift trade sanctions and to allow some countries, to sell stockpiled ivory to Japan, where there is a major ivory market. Many conservation groups fear that this slight loosening of the ivory ban will start poaching throughout the elephants' range.

Even though it is illegal to kill an elephant in Africa, people continue to slaughter the mammoth beasts if not for ivory, then for revenge. Roaming elephant herds have begun butting up against sprawling human populations in most regions. While Masai herdsmen coexist with elephants by leaving their livestock unfenced and letting the animals walk through their land, farmers who try to barricade their crops from migrating wildlife create trouble for themselves. To a farmer, an elephant can be an irritating five-ton garden pest or an active; danger to his life. If a hungry beast destroys the season's crop, the culprit (or Sometimes just the nearest elephant, guilty or not) may be hunted down and forced to pay the price of the damage with its life.

Scientists are working on remedies to suit both parties. One has developed a pepper-spray bomb that wards off elephants by attacking their sensitive eyes with airborne pepper molecules. The Elephant recovers soon after, having learned to stay clear of the fields.

Still, elephant poaching remains a problem in some parts of Africa. In September, 1996, Michael Fay, an elephant researcher was flying his small airplane over a remote forest in Congo when he spotted a cluster of elephant carcasses, he found a scene of slaughter: there lay 300 elephant bodies, all with their tusks hacked off. Taking action into his own hands, Fay chased poachers out of the forest by destroying their camps. He also met with village leaders to solicit their help in ending the killings. By the spring of 1997, Fay had stopped illegal hunting in the region. He and his colleagues continue to monitor and protect elephants in the Congo basin. As urban development continues to block migration routes in and out of these protected areas, elephants rely on the open corridors provided by traditional Masai land use. Fay believes that the best way to lessen human-wildlife conflicts is to give people reason to keep local wildlife alive and healthy. For instance, ecotourism puts money directly back into the local Masai communities. Rather than a burden, the elephants become an important part of the local economy

The number of elephants decreased…

A treaty prohibited…

Animal activist are afraid that liberating the law..

Not only the poachers but destroy the normal life of elephants…

The coexistence of the Masai and the elephants was…

As farmers block the usual routes of the herds elephants …

Zoologists tried to help …

Michael Fay got assistance …

While farmers hinder the free movement of elephants herds traditional farming …

A possible solution could be…