However, poaching unnaturally removes theose with the largest tusks from the population, causing some elephants to now be born with smaller or nonexistent tusks. Where are we focusing our efforts and why? The need for anti-poaching efforts is still very real.
In addition to supporting critical frontline protection work, another big piece of our African Elephant Initiative is keeping large spaces open for elephants to live In addition to supporting critical frontline protection work, another big piece of our African Elephant Initiative is keeping large spaces open for elephants to live and thrive. Amboseli will forever be known as a real stronghold for elephants. Decades-long research on the elephant population here tells us that elephants move south from Amboseli into the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro.
If we can keep Enduimet open and viable, we are both protecting critical hectares of land for elephants and helping improve livelihoods for local communities. A key vision for this area is to be able to showcase in future years that Maasai living along the northern border of Tanzania are seeing a better life with elephants alive.
Today, I am not sure that is the case. In the long run, we hope that Enduimet will have a sustainable future. What will happen if the wildlife corridor is severed? Why can't elephants be happy in just one of the national parks? As elephant, lion, and other wildlife populations increase, you see more and more conflict. Crops destroyed, cattle killed. Followed by retaliation by humans. By better designating habitat and encouraging people to understand the ways they can benefit from wildlife, we can help stop negative impacts between the two.
There are also some tactics we can use to help people live with wildlife. For example, tracking lions makes it possible to alert community members to move their cattle into new areas to avoid predation when lions are nearby.
Developing crop protection teams and ensuring that the viable elephant corridors remain open grasslands rather than being cultivated are proven strategies as well. It's not about preventing expansion, but steering development in the right direction. Are we trying to reclaim any land that's been lost? Elephants are a key focal species that help us identify where to focus our conservation efforts throughout Africa because they need such large habitats to exist and thrive.
They shift north, south, east, and west through forests and grasslands all year. If a system works for elephants, it generally works for impala, zebra, giraffe, kudu, lion, and other species that utilize similar habitat.
The protected areas today are the heart and lungs of Africa. Even if we have to triage and let go of some places where there are elephants today, we know we have those key critical areas to fall back on. Enduimet is a great example of one of these critical areas because you have two national parks and a community area in between.
As a result, you have a greater chance of success than you would with areas that are not adjacent to two national parks. I believe that we can see development. I believe that we can see growth in Kenya and Tanzania. We need to continue to prioritize the key areas and improve management in these critical places by bringing more benefit to local communities. By the early 20th century, their numbers had dropped to 10 million. Hunting continued to increase.
By , their numbers were down to 1. Between and , hunting and poaching put the African elephant at risk of extinction, reducing its population by another half. In the years since, poaching has continued to threaten both species: Savanna elephants declined by 30 percent between and , while forest elephants declined by 64 percent from to as poaching worsened in Central and West Africa. In , the International Union for Conservation of Nature recognized them as separate species for the first time , listing savanna elephants as endangered and forest elephants as critically endangered.
As few as , remain today. Compounding the problem is how long it takes for elephants to reproduce. With reproduction rates hovering around 5 to 6 percent , there are simply not enough calves being born to make up for the losses from poaching.
African elephants are also losing their habitat as the human population grows and people convert land for agriculture and development.
Elephants need a lot of room, so habitat destruction and fragmentation not only makes it harder for them to find food, water, and each other, but it also puts them in increased conflict with humans. The decision to recognize African elephants as two separate species is seen as an important step for conservation, as it highlights the different challenges that each species faces. Scientists hope that the listing will bring more attention to forest elephants, which have often been overlooked by governments and donors when grouped together with more visible savanna elephants.
African elephants are protected to varying degrees in all the countries of their geographic range. There have been recent efforts to bring re-legalize the international trade in ivory, but those so far have failed.
Conservation groups and governments have worked to set aside land for wildlife— including corridors that connect those protected lands.
Still, researchers believe that up to 70 percent of elephants' range is on unprotected land. To curb poaching, stopping the illegal trade is key. Advocates have launched campaigns that address both the supply side poaching and the demand side people who buy ivory. Since the ban went into effect, public demand for ivory seems to have fallen.
On the supply side, protecting elephants from poaching also requires a local approach. In , a study showed that the suffering of elephants is tied to that of the humans living nearby: Regions with high levels of poverty and corruption are more likely to have higher poaching rates. This suggests that helping communities develop sustainable livelihoods could reduce the lure of poaching. Elephant family members show signs of grief and may revisit the bones of the deceased for years, touching them with their trunks.
All rights reserved. Animals Photo Ark. African elephant. An African elephant photographed at Indianapolis Zoo in Indiana. Common Name: African elephants. Scientific Name: Loxodonta. Type: Mammals. Diet: Herbivore. Group Name: Herd. Size: Height at the shoulder, 8. Elephants are mighty beasts, and they have evolved to survive perfectly well in hot, arid conditions. They are herbivores, meaning that they eat leaves, roots, fruits and grasses but do not eat the meat of other animals. They are the gentle vegetarian giants of the African Savannahs and can be found wandering through as many as 37 countries on the African continent.
Elephants stamp and dig into dry stream beds or other spots to uncover water that is lurking below the surface. They often create very large holes by digging with their feet, trunks and tusks, working until they reach an adequate supply of water for them all to share. Their sheer size along makes them hard for predators to eat, such as leopards, lions, or jaguars. At night, the adults form a circle around the calves to protect them from danger.
They also have thick skin, making it hard to bite. Africa is also home to Forest Elephants who have uniquely adapted to live in the forest habitat of the Congo Basin. These elephants have evolved to survive in their own habitat and are smaller in size, making them better suited to life in the lush rainforest conditions. Sadly, it is the forest elephants of Africa that are more at risk from the threat of poachers than any other, and their numbers continue to steadily decline.
Facts about Elephant Size African elephants are the largest land animals in the world today. The largest African elephant ever recorded was found in Angola, rocking in at a massive 24, lb 11, kg , with a shoulder height of 3.
The average African elephant will grow to between 8. Male elephants can grow to be significantly larger than their female counterparts. Both genders grow ivory tusks, which are actually elongated incisor teeth. However, the male's tusks are longer and heavier, weighing between and pounds each.
Females' tusks weigh approximately 40 pounds each. African elephants are famous for their very large ears. Considered to be shaped much like the continent of Africa itself, the large surface area of their ears helps to keep them cool in the blazing hot African sun. Indian Elephant Facts Whilst we love and support our elephants here on the African continent, their brothers and sister in Asia also deserve our recognition.
Asian or Indian elephants look different to our African species, but effectively are still the same gentle giants loved the world over. Indian elephants tend to be smaller in stature than African elephants and have adapted to live in the lush, wet and humid conditions of tropical Asia. The shape of their heads and the size of their ears also makes Asian elephants easy to identify.
African elephants have fuller, more rounded heads. The top of the head is a single dome, whereas Asian elephants have a twin-domed head with an indent in the middle. The lower lips of the two species also differ, being long and tapered in Asian elephants and short and round in African elephants. All African elephants have tusks, whereas only some male Asian elephants have tusks, with females not having them at all. It is said that African elephants have ears shaped like a map of Africa, whilst Asian elephants have smaller ears shaped like a map of India.
Whilst this may or may not be exactly the case, Asian elephants do have smaller ears as they do not rely on bigger ears to shade them from the hot African sun. Asian Elephants Under Threat Whilst our African elephants are most at risk from poaches and the Ivory trade in general, the greatest threat to Asian elephants is the potential loss of habitat as forests are cleared to make way for dams, tea and coffee plantations, roads, and railway lines.
Frequently asked questions Where do elephants come from? There are three species of elephants in the world, and where each one can be found depends on the species.
In Africa, there are two species of elephant. The loxodonta africana African elephant lives in the African Savannah and in the Sahel desert in Mali. This is the biggest species of elephant in the world. The slightly smaller loxodonta cyclotis African elephant lives in the rainforests of Central and West Africa.
The elephas maixmus species of elephant Asian elephant can be found in Nepal, India and Southeast Asia in scrub forests and rain forests.
How many elephants are there in Africa and why are African elephants endangered? There are now only an estimated , African elephants left in the wild. Less than a third of that number are now left.
African Forest Elephants living in the forests of the Basin are at the greatest risk from the threat of poachers than any other species and their numbers continue to steadily decline. Moreover, humans are responsible for huge habit loss of African elephants. As the human population in Africa increases, more and more land is converted to agriculture. A smaller habit has meant that elephants and humans are coming into contact with one another more than they did historically, and this is causing conflict.
This can lead to both humans and elephants being killed in the conflict. How much does the average elephant weigh? African elephants are the largest land animals in the world today.
The average African elephant will weigh between 5, to 14, lbs. However, the largest African elephant ever recorded was found in Angola, rocking in at a massive 24, lb 11, kg. Asian elephants tend to be a smaller than their African counterparts, weighing between 4, to 11, Ibs 2, to 5, kg. How tall is an elephant? Asian elephants are smaller and tend to reach a shoulder height of between 6.
What do African elephants eat? How much does an elephant eat a day? Elephants are gigantic animals and this means that they need to find an eat an awful lot of food. African elephants can eat as much as Ibs kg of food a day.
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