AFRICAN ELEPHANT

The biggest creatures on Earth are African elephants. Their cattle roam throughout 37 African nations. Their trunk, which they utilise for manipulating things and communicating, makes them immediately identifiable. Furthermore, they might radiate too much heat due to their huge ears. African elephants' upper incisor teeth evolve into tusks throughout the course of their lives. The African elephant is divided into two species: the bush or savanna elephant and the forest elephant. Elephants found on savannas are bigger than those found in forests, and their tusks extend outward. Forest elephants are smaller, darker, and have tusks that point downward and are more erect. The size and form of the bones and skull vary as well between the two species.

 Due to habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting for the globally ivory trade, and their particular adaptation to the deep forest environment of the Congo Basin, forest elephant populations are drastically declining. The proportion of woodland elephants in the African elephant population is thought to be between 25% and 33%.
 

     PLACES


                                           Congo Basin, Coastal East Africa


                   WHY THEY MATTER


Many other species' appropriate habitats are maintained in part by the presence of African elephants. Because of their massive influence on everything from freshwater to forest cover, they play a crucial role in forming their ecosystem.

                          THREATS



African elephant populations, although historically exceeded three to five million, were drastically reduced to their current levels due to poaching. An estimated 100,000 elephants were murdered annually in the 1980s, and in certain areas, herd losses might reach 80%. Poaching has gotten worse significantly because to the rising demand for ivory, especially from Asia. Elephant populations that formerly appeared to be healing, especially in southern and eastern Africa, may again be in jeopardy in light of the recent upsurge in poaching for the illicit ivory trade.

   HABITAT LOSS AND FREGMENTATION


Due to the use of land for agriculture, towns, and advancements by an increasing human population, African elephants now have less space to roam than in the past. Between 1979 and 2007, the range of elephants reduced from three million square miles to little over one million square miles. In addition to destroying habitat, commercial logging, biofuel agriculture, and extractive industries like mining and logging allow poachers access to remote elephant forests. In addition to armed conflict and political unrest, poverty and population displacement are major contributors to habitat loss and fragmentation. Elephants' freedom to move is hampered by all of them, which force them onto tiny islands inside protected zones.



               ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

The main cause of elephant poaching is the illicit desire for ivory. Even though the Far East's demand for ivory items is rising, tens of thousands of elephants are still murdered each year to satisfy the global CITES prohibition on the trade of ivory, which has been in place since 1990. There are still robust domestic ivory markets in Africa, and Asia is driving the trend of increased criminal ivory sales. Governments find it challenging to keep an eye on and safeguard elephant herds due to a lack of resources and the isolation and accessibility of elephant habitats. Because elephants are also considered a source of wild meat, the effects of conflict and over-exploitation of natural resources frequently result in an upsurge in poaching. The amount of illicit ivory captured in 2011 was the largest since worldwide statistics date back to 1989.

                        

    FIGHTING ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE


WWF backs antipoaching initiatives inside and outside of protected areas in an effort to limit the illicit trade in elephant products. In order to give elephants a safe sanctuary, we also want to create additional protected areas. To evaluate changes in the illicit traffic in elephant products, we collaborate with TRAFFIC, the biggest wildlife trade monitoring network in the world. Implementing the CITES Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), which keeps track of and monitors seizures of elephant ivory, is one aspect of this.

        HUMAN ELEPHANT CONFLICT

Elephants and humans are coming into touch more often as habitats are being reduced and human populations are growing. In areas where farms straddle elephant migratory routes or adjacent elephant habitat, crop and community damage can become routine. Elephants always lose confrontations that result from this. However, fatalities can happen on both ends as well because game wardens frequently kill "problem" elephants and people can be crushed while attempting to defend their way of life.

PROTECTING AND MANAGING HABITATS

WWF provides equipment and training to law enforcement personnel so they may carry out frequent and efficient antipoaching patrols in an effort to lessen the illicit slaughter of elephants via better protection and management. Within the ranges of elephants, we assist in creating new protected areas and enhancing the efficiency of administration in already-existing ones.
Governments may manage elephant numbers, conduct surveys, and put the CITES system for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) into place with the assistance of WWF. We assist in updating and enforcing laws to preserve elephants and we support training in methods for elephant conservation and management. Elephant conservation and management have been taught to park rangers, locals, and communities with assistance from WWF. WWF collaborated with the local government and people at Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique, to set up a park management system that would safeguard the area's wildlife and livelihoods. Additionally, WWF creates and supports programs for community-based wildlife management that benefit the local population and aid in the conservation of elephants.

MANAGING CONFLICT

WWF teaches wildlife managers and local communities to apply contemporary techniques and tools to manage human-elephant conflict in order to improve public support for elephant conservation through the reduction of conflict. WWF keeps an eye on how people and elephants interact in areas like Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve and collaborates with locals to create sustainable strategies for handling elephant conflict.



HOW WE CAN HELP?

Join to the wwf to take action for any conviniance.Speeak up for right of animals and places where animals lived and go for wwf action center.