The slaughter of African elephants continues unabated six months after a much-heralded Chinese ban on the ivory trade.

Illegal poaching has brought the continent’s elephant population to the brink of extinction.

Since 2010, more than 30,000 have been killed yearly, according to a study – The Great Elephant Census.

But China’s law introduced this January that outlawed all trade in ivory was hailed as a game changer.

The Asian country is the biggest consumer of ivory-made trinkets and lockets. The material – hewn from elephant tusks – is also regarded by many Chinese as having medicinal value.

Conservationists saw it as the best chance of saving the African elephant from extinction.

But a CNN report revealed that six months on, poaching in African nations continues at an alarming rate.

It found poaching and ivory smuggling continues around the 41,000sqkms Niassa Reserve in Mozambique.

The vast expanse should hold tens of thousands of elephants but the Wildlife Conservation Society fear as few as 2,000 are left.

Richard Thomas, of the wildlife monitoring group Traffic, said there had been no measurable drop in poaching levels since the Chinese ban started.

“The China ban was widely hailed as a potential game change,” Mr Thomas said.

"But, there is no evidence that this has been realised at this stage."

CNN reports criminal syndicates that smuggle ivory often take advantage of poor border control and corrupt officials, shifting illegal cargo at an industrial scale.

Meanwhile, a global law enforcement operation has netted millions of dollars in illegal wildlife and timber, reports AP.

The Operation Thunderstorm swoop – involving 100 countries – included the confiscation of 1.4tonnes of elephant ivory, 27,000 reptiles, 4,000 birds and 14 big cats.