African elephants could be extinct in the wild within the next decade, experts at a major conservation conference in Botswana have warned. The Africa Elephant Summit, attended by delegates from about 20 countries - including China, which is accused of fuelling the poaching trade - heard new figures from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature that showed that the African elephant population fell from 550000 to 470000 between 2006 and 2013.The decline has been even more pronounced in East Africa, where numbers have fallen from 150000 to 100000 during the same period.Last year the Selous Game Reserve, in Tanzania, was added to Unesco's list of World Heritage Sites under threat, highlighting the scale of the problem in the region.The elephant and rhino population of the reserve has fallen by nearly 90% since it was first listed in 1982."This species could be extinct in our lifetime, within one or two decades, if the current trend continues," said Dune Ives, senior researcher at Vulcan, a philanthropic organisation run by US Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen."In five years we might have lost the opportunity to save this magnificent and iconic animal."Elephants are poached for their tusks, which are turned into jewellery or art pieces prized by wealthy Chinese and Thais. A single elephant can yield 10kg of ivory with a market value of around $30000 (R355000).Tshekedi Khama, Botswana's minister of tourism and wildlife, said: "The end result is totally in the hands of China."A Chinese delegate said his country was being unfairly targeted and was funding anti-poaching efforts in Africa.Brian Jackman, Telegraph Travel's safari expert, said: "The elephant's future is entirely dependent on persuading the Chinese (and, to a lesser extent, other Far Eastern countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam) to end this illegal trade in what only rich people buy and nobody needs."He said tourism was a key part of the battle because fewer on wildlife safaris meant less money for conservation efforts. ..