The elephants of my childhood, Vladimir and Evgeny, have probably been killed by now. I was very lucky that I ever got to see them with my own eyes, but such are the perks for a little boy whose grandfather was the Soviet Union’s top biologist. They were fictitious in the beginning, invented by my grandfather Vladimir Sokolov, as he tucked me in to bed at night. I would hear how Vladimir and Evgeny would get stuck in mud holes and roam the African forests getting into adventures, and how Vladimir would save little Evgeny from the clutches of lions and leopards. In the flickering electricity of the lamps in our Soviet flat, it was my first introduction to the wonder of wildlife.
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This year alone 36,000 elephants will be killed across the African continent
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Demand for ivory across Asia's burgeoning middle classes is increasing
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African charity Space for Giants is armed to defend animals using force
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Militarised conservation groups are engaging in firefights with poachers
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Poachers include fanatics of Al-Shabaab and the Lord's Resistance Army
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Some 1,000 wildlife rangers have been killed in the past decade
An @placeholder elephant pictured as it charges towards the photographer.