With their long tusks (象牙), elephants look strong. However, it is this feature that makes the animal endangered. Many of them1for their tusks. The crafts (工艺品) made of their tusks are 2 priceless goods that they are popular among rich people. Studies show that elephants are living under 3conditions than expected.
The elephants' tusks are actually part of their teeth. Once the teeth are lost, they 4 never grow back. Losing the tusk will not kill them, but they may find it difficult to protect themselves 5 danger, lift things and get themselves food. What really makes elephants endangered is the way they lose the tusks. Usually, to meet the demand for ivory (象牙), some poachers (偷猎者) kill6elephants and cut their faces open to remove the tusks. Because human beings kill elephants for best ivory, an increasing number of African elephants have 7evolved(进化) into elephants without tusks in order to survive. Others are still killed for ivory.
According to the experts, over the last decades, the population of African elephants 8 from 10 million to 400, 000. If the poaching continues, African elephants will die out in 20 years. To protect the elephants, 9 organization called TNC (The Nature Conservancy) held an activity "Ivory Only Belongs to Elephants" online. Users watched the videos about elephant poaching online, and expressed10they would like to say about protecting elephants. Besides, with the efforts of TNC and local African governments, laws are used to punish ivory trading to stop more elephant poaching.
