Elephant's continue to suffer a lot whether alive on even after natural death
. The hunt for their tusk which has now been abolished all over the world to help conserve their number still continues. The ivory merchants are corrupt, ruthless and greedy people out there to cash on every tusk and continue with this illegal trade. In Kenya a recent seizure of over 300 pieces of tusks weighing around 2 tonnes was netted on transit at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This has very serious implications on Kenya tourism industry.
Elephants tusks netted were believed to have collected from about 150 elephants that had died of natural causes over the last 20 years. However it's worthy noting that none of the tusk had the mark of the Kenya government meaning none of its stock was involved. The tusks might not have been from Kenya and the owners were probably transiting them through Kenya. There is great market in China, Hong Kong and Thailand where they are used to make jeweler, charms and other medicinal concoctions that are later sold expensively.
Elephants poaching is highly discouraged and there are usually heavy penalties to anyone caught practicing the behavior. This was the highest contraband ever netted in Kenya by the authorities and other forces. The country lost around 47 of the animals in 2007, 94 in 2008 and more than 200 in 2009, a factor attributed to poaching. The country loses about 200-300 elephants every year due to natural deaths. Of late many African countries have joined forces to stem out the vice that threatens endanger Africa's best wildlife.