article_snippet.sent: Prized: Ivory tusks are some of the most prized treasures hunters can get, enraging animal rights supporters . '
article_snippet.sent: The news has come a month after a study was released warning that ivory hunting is continuing to diminish the elephant population in Africa.
article_snippet.sent: A report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which is known as CITES and regulates wildlife trade, said poaching rates of elephants in areas that are being monitored still exceed elephants natural birth rates.
article_snippet.sent: Conservationists say tens of thousands of elephants have been killed in Africa in recent years as demand for ivory in Asia, particularly China, increases.
article_snippet.sent: Past estimates of Africa's elephant population have ranged from 420,000 to 650,000.
article_snippet.sent: Prince William is one of the world's most prominent voices in defense of elephants against ivory hunters.