Researchers recorded huge drop in African elephants over 50 years
African elephants are in danger – according to a new study, which recorded a dangerous population decline at numerous sites across the continent over about a half century, Reuters reports
Researchers have presented the most comprehensive assessment of the status of the two African elephant species — the savannah elephant and forest elephant — based on data from population surveys conducted at 475 sites across 37 countries from 1964 through 2016.
“The savanna elephant populations fell by about 70 percent on average at the surveyed sites and the forest elephant populations dropped by about 90 percent on average at the surveyed sites, with poaching and habitat loss the main drivers. All told, there was a 77 percent population decrease on average at the various surveyed sites, spanning both species,” the publication reads.
Elephants disappeared in some places, while their populations increased in other places due to conservation efforts.
Poaching usually involves people killing elephants for their tusks, which are illegally sold on the international black market, while agricultural expansion is the top factor in habitat loss.
