African elephants - Threats

Still poached for ivory and meat

Historically, two major factors have led to the decline of the African elephants: demand for ivory and changes in land-use. Elephants are still poached for ivory and meat in many parts of their range. Remaining elephant habitat is increasingly encroached upon by human settlement and agriculture, leaving many populations restricted to isolated protected areas.

While the illegal trade in ivory remains a real threat, current concern for the survival of the African elephant centres around the reduction of their habitat.

Habitat loss and fragmentation
Most elephant range still extends outside protected areas, and the rapid growth of human populations and the extension of agriculture into rangelands and forests formerly considered unsuitable for farming mean that large areas are now permanently off-limits for elephants.

As habitats contract and human populations expand, people and elephants are increasingly coming into contact with each other. Where farms border elephant habitat or cross elephant migration corridors, damage to crops and villages can become commonplace, providing a source of conflict which the elephants invariably lose.

Inevitably, loss of life sometimes occurs on both sides, as people get trampled while trying to protect their livelihood, and "problem" elephants get shot by game guards. It is predicted that as human populations continue to grow throughout the elephants' range, habitat loss and degradation will become the major threats to elephants survival.
Find out more about habitat loss and degradation

Illegal hunting and trade
In the early 1970s, demand for ivory soared and the amount of ivory leaving Africa rose to levels not seen since the start of the century. Most of the ivory leaving Africa was taken illegally and over 80% of all the raw ivory traded came from poached elephants.

This illegal trade was largely responsible for reducing the African elephant population to current levels. The poaching was generally well-organized and difficult to control because of the availability of automatic weapons.

Although international trade in ivory is illegal (except under specific circumstances tightly controlled by CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), there are still some thriving but unmonitored domestic ivory markets in a number of states, some of which have few elephants of their own remaining. These markets fuel an illegal international trade.
Find out more about wildlife trade

Introduction of the ivory ban
As the "ivory ban" came into force in 1990, some countries in Africa experienced a steep decline in illegal killing, especially where elephants were adequately protected. However, in countries where wildlife management authorities are chronically under-funded, poaching still appears to be a chronic, significant problem.

Moreover, increasing land use pressures on elephant range, declining law enforcement budgets, and continuing poaching pressure for bush meat as well as ivory, have kept illegal killing of elephants widespread in some regions.

Unequal distribution of elephants means different opinions on conservation
Considerable debate surrounds elephant conservation, largely because of the varying status of elephant populations in different range countries.

Some people, mainly in southern African countries where elephant populations are increasing, consider that a legal and controlled ivory trade could bring substantial economic benefits to Africa without jeopardizing the conservation of the species, others are opposed to it because corruption and lack of law enforcement in some countries would make it difficult to control the trade.