9781422279113

they butchered Satao, cutting off his face to get his tusks. Authorities found the body a few days later. It was so badly cut up that they did not know for sure it was Satao, but they feared the worst. They sent planes out to look for Satao, hoping to spot him in one of his favorite hangouts. All the flights came back with the same report: No one had seen him. Finally, after a week, they confirmed that the dead elephant was Satao. Satao was particularly famous, but he was not unique. Thousands of ordinary elephants suffer the same fate. Ex- perts estimate that almost 100 elephants are killed every day by poachers in Africa. That’s one every 15 minutes! Rhi- noceroses, tigers, lions, leopards, gorillas, and other spe- cies are also being targeted. Some of them face extinction. Fortunately, there are people fighting on the other side of this war. They know that stopping poaching won’t be easy, but their mission is clear: Find a way.

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