With so many species of plants and animals relying on elephants, their continuing decline is worrisome. Despite legislation in place to ban poaching and the ivory trade, it remains one of the most significant threats to elephant populations. Additionally, the rapid rate of habitat transformation on the continent reduces resource availability and increases human-elephant conflict. Urgent conservation action is needed to protect these animals.
Interesting facts
Elephants are iconic animals that feature in many African communities’ songs, stories, and cultural traditions. The savanna elephant, the largest land mammal, can stand 3 m tall and weigh 6 tons. They are a big tourist attraction and an important species for the ecosystem.
As mass plant consumers, they shape the vegetation structure of their habitats. Their ability to trample and push over trees maintains the dominance of grasses in savanna and grassland ecosystems, creating vital habitats and food sources for myriads of other species.
Elephants transport nutrients and disperse seeds far distances through their dung. Many tree seeds, such as those of the marula tree, need to pass through an elephant’s digestive system before they can germinate. Additionally, the giant dung pile provides nutrients for the seedlings.
Aside from its incredible size, the elephant’s other distinguishing feature is its trunk. Its long (2 m), dextrous trunks have more muscles (40,000) than a human’s entire body (600). Elephants use their trunks for drinking, feeding, and communicating.
In addition to their famous trumpet call, elephants use low rumbles and infrasound noises, which humans cannot hear, that can travel far distances. Their communication is highly sophisticated and complex.
Social behaviour
A recent study has shown that elephants have names for each other. They are highly social animals. Family herds consist of 6-20 individuals of adult females and their calves, led by a matriarch. Elephant gestation lasts for 22 months. Baby elephants nurse for four years and stay with their mothers for up to 10 years. Males leave the herd at ~14 years to live alone or form bachelor herds with other bulls. Elephants can live up to 70 years.
Two types of elephants
Recently, researchers have found evidence that there are two species of African elephant: The savanna elephant and the forest elephant. The forest elephant is more miniature, has straighter tusks and rounder ears, and only lives in the tropical forests of west and central Africa.
The savanna elephant occurs throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Their habitats include montane forest, woodland, savanna, grassland, and desert.
While the two species generally prefer different habitats, there are small areas where their distributions overlap. However, molecular studies have found that the two species are genetically distinct, and natural hybridisation is rare, even in places where they co-occur.
Conservation status and threats
The latest IUCN assessment (2022) estimated that the savanna elephant population has shrunk by more than 50% in the past 75 years and that of the forest elephant by 80% over the last 93 years. For both species, poaching for ivory and habitat loss due to human population expansion are the most significant threats. Human encroachment into elephant habitat also leads to increased human-wildlife conflict.
Conservation Initiatives
Most elephant conservation initiatives focus on anti-poaching programmes, the management of elephant habitats, research and population surveys, and mitigating human-wildlife conflict.
- For example, CITES established the Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme in 2002 to record instances of elephant deaths due to poaching and enhance the management and enforcement capacity of sites across Africa.
- The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has programmes to reduce poaching, establish and maintain wildlife corridors to allow elephant migration, survey population numbers and movements to keep elephants and humans safe, and mitigate human-elephant conflict.
- In Tanzania, the nonprofit Save the Elephants used honeybees to scare away elephants. Honeybee hives placed strategically around farms or fields have reduced elephant raids by 80%. Additionally, the bee hives provide an extra income for households.
- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), The United States Agency for International Development, and the Tsavo Trust set up a solar-powered elephant exclusion fence around the Kamunyu village on the northern boundary of Tsavo West National Park in Kenya. The two-string, 2 m high electric fence discourages elephants, while humans, cattle, and smaller animals can still walk underneath it. The fence reduced conflict incidences by 90%.
References
Elephants are truly unique animals essential to African culture, landscape, and ecology. Please participate in appreciating their beauty, raising awareness of their plight, and celebrating conservation success stories.
- Gobush, K.S., Edwards, C.T.T, Balfour, D., Wittemyer, G., Maisels, F. & Taylor, R.D. 2022. Loxodonta africana (amended version of 2021 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T181008073A223031019. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T181008073A223031019.en
- Gobush, K.S., Edwards, C.T.T, Maisels, F., Wittemyer, G., Balfour, D. & Taylor, R.D. 2021. Loxodonta cyclotis (errata version published in 2021). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T181007989A204404464. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T181007989A204404464.en
- Roca, A. L. (2001). Genetic Evidence for Two Species of Elephant in Africa. Science, 293(5534), 1473–1477. doi:10.1126/science.1059936
- https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/fascinating-facts/elephants
- Lewis, D. M. (1987). Fruiting patterns, seed germination, and distribution of Sclerocarya caffra in an elephant-inhabited woodland. Biotropica, 50-56.
- Pardo, M. A., Fristrup, K., Lolchuragi, D. S., Poole, J. H., Granli, P., Moss, C., … & Wittemyer, G. (2024). African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-12.
- https://www.ifaw.org/international/journal/tsavo-innovative-agriculture-elephant-fencing.
- https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/environment/chilli-bombs-and-honeybees-weapons-in-tanzanias-human-elephant-conflict-20240611
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