Poachers kill elephant in Cambodia wildlife sanctuary

The body of a male Asian elephant was found in a wildlife sanctuary in northeastern Cambodia on Sunday. [Photo: AFP]

An elephant has been found dead with its tusks and tail sliced off in a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia, where wild elephant numbers have dwindled to just a few hundred due to poaching and deforestation.

The Southeast Asian nation has emerged in recent years as a key transit hub for the multi-billion dollar illicit wildlife trade, with demand for products made from tusks, pangolin scales and rhino horns high in China and neighbouring Vietnam.