[smt88]

You should read more about evolution. I think you misunderstand some of the fundamentals.

Although there are some interesting hereditary environmental epigenetic changes, evolution (as we understand it) is driven by selective pressure.

Your soldier analogy is great because it perfectly describes what evolution doesn't do. We know that an armless veteran is not more likely to have an armless child.

As for the elephants, the way poaching causes evolution is by killing (not maiming) only elephants with tusks.

So in the past, it was an advantage to have tusks. An elephant with tusks was more likely to survive and reproduce.

But with poachers killing elephants with tusks, it has reduced the likelihood so much that it may be better to be an elephant without tusks.

Because tusks/tusklessness seems to be heritable, this combination of circumstances leads to an increase of the ratio of tuskless to tusked elephants.