Rebecca Manzi There were once 26 million African elephants, but due to poaching, deforestation and infrastructure development, their numbers have been drastically reduced to the current 415,000.
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African elephants of the genus Loxodonta were widespread across sub-Saharan Africa. They had an estimated 26 million members in the 18th century. Their numbers had already fallen to 10 million by the early 20th century.
The fall continued at a terrifying pace, and by 1989, after the United States approved the authorization of the African Elephant Conservation Act, only about 600,000 elephants were left. As a result of a global ban on the ivory trade, some groups stabilized in the 1990s, but renewed poaching again threatened their survival.
In the three years from 2010 to 2012, approximately 100,000 elephants were killed for their tusks. Between 2011 and 2014, poaching in these areas reached the maximum levels since 2002. Currently, the number of African elephants stands at an estimated 415,000. Loss of their habitat due to human expansion, deforestation, and urbanization is also another problem. Elephants tend to raid farms in search of food and create conflicts with the locals.
Central African forests most affected
In 2021, the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) listed two species: forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), listed as “critically endangered,” and savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), listed as “endangered.” Due to the decline, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service compensates for protection, surveillance, and human-elephant conflict mitigation in 37 nations in Africa where there are elephants.
The Central African forests are among the hardest affected, with forest elephant numbers declining 62% over the period from 2002 to 2011. The Democratic Republic of Congo has lost 80% of its elephants since the 1970s, and 80% of Gabon’s Minkébé National Park elephants were killed during the past decade. West African populations are fragmented and typically contain fewer than 100 individuals, excluding the W-Arly-Pendjari transboundary complex containing over 4,000 elephants.
Eastern Africa has also been severely affected, particularly in Tanzania, where the elephant count decreased from 110,000-165,000 in 2008 to around 43,330 in the subsequent years. Recent reports, however, mention a reduction in poaching activities in some areas.
Southern Africa, which was once a sanctuary, has seen the Botswana elephant population grow to 129,000 in 2014, but poaching occurs in this region as well. There are over 80,000 Zimbabwean elephants these days, and the total population in Southern Africa is around 293,447. The awe-inspiring figures should leave us amazed at how fragile the future of these majestic beings is, at our discretion.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
