^18 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



man down and trampling on his body, picked up the sense- 

 less form with its trunk and hurled it a distance of fifteen 

 feet into the waters of a canal. That medical and surgical 

 aid should prove of no avail after such an experience was 

 inevitable. 



It is estim.ated by one of the great ivory dealers that 

 50,000 elephants are killed every year for their ivory. At 

 the present rate of extermination, in ten years the elephant 

 will have become an extinct mammal and the ivory ex- 

 ceedingly rare. Of course, a considerable part of the ivory 

 exported comes from animals that have died a natural 

 death, but still there is no reason to doubt that the above 

 estimate is rather too low than too high. 



