At present, many people treat elephants as objects of entertainment and sources of valuable ivory. Although the international ivory trade was banned in 1989, poaching is on the rise – and in 2017, the US president Donald Trump lifted the US ban on imports. To harvest their tusks, humans slaughter elephants at rates that, if they were persons, would amount to genocide.

Source: If elephants aren’t persons yet, could they be one day? | Aeon Essays