Elephants Without Tusks

It seems pretty clear that the females were doing this just so that they wouldn't be targets for hunting. It makes sense, why would a poacher go after an elephant if it doesn't have tusks? This has also been seen and other animals, like big horned sheep, which are a commonly hunted game animal up in canada. But there could be some really serious survival disadvantages to not having tusks. So in a way, it could backfire on the female elephants in the herds.