It is a misfortune beyond reckoning and humanity needs to concentrate to the plight of the elephants before it is too late. You need to ask yourself a question, “Are elephants endangered?” Well, they certainly are and as always humans are held responsible for their endangerment. Elephants have long been employed for hunting, sports, and in wars; besides, they have played a pivotal role in shaping economies, religion, ethnicity, and culture. Therefore, we can easily say that the death of elephants would not merely the death of a wildlife creature, but the demise of the entire ecosystem that was deemed to rely on it. Unfortunately, still in many countries the truth is not recognized and it is legal to hunt elephants despite its widespread
Are Elephants Endangered
African elephants were classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2008. Back in 1979, there were around 1.3 million elephants roaming all throughout Africa, with few reports confirm an estimate of 3.0 million populations.
After ten years, the population of elephants diminished rapidly and the numbers were 609,000 remaining; 110,000 in East Africa; 277,000 in Central Africa; 204,000 in southern Africa, and 19,000 in western Africa. There are around 214,000 elephants living in the rainforests.
The population was thought to decline by 74% in East Africa in the period of 1977 – 89. Making things worse, the population never stopped declining especially in the rainforests of Somalia and Cameroon. It is believed that the African elephants have decreased by 43% and the population is randomly distributed in Mozambique, Angola, and Zambia.
On the positive side, African elephants receive legal protection in countries where they exist and more than 70% of these mammals are found outside protected areas. Illegal hunting in Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, puts them at the verge of extinction.
Some countries are responsible for the population decline as it is legal to sport hunt elephants in these regions; this includes Cameroon, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Gabon, Mozambique, and Botswana. However, various conservation efforts have been to restore elephant densities in much of the habitats. Similarly, Asian elephants are likely to become extinct as they were subject to extreme hunting in the last 60 to 70 years.
Read More: Where Do African Elephants Live?
Did You Know?
African Elephants Face Extinction by 2020, Conservationists Warn!—Are Elephants Endangered
According to researchers, African elephants are primarily killed for their ivory at a rate that could lead us to believe that there’d be no elephants by 2020. In the year 1989, the death rate of elephants was 7.4% which ultimately led the authorities to impose a ban on ivory trading; today the death rate is 8%. One of the fellow researchers, Dr. Wasser alerts that until and unless some conscious anti-poaching measures are not taken, we won’t be able to see these large creatures walking on earth by the next 10 years.
There are no more than 470,000 African elephants remaining. No less than 70,000 elephants were killed each year in 1980s. According to Dr. Wasser, the loss of African elephants could leave adverse effects on the entire ecosystem and other wildlife, apart from the cashflow that was generated from tourists each year. He further said that if a similar trend continues, all these elephants would be in fenced areas under a large enforcement. Besides, several programs should be introduced that spreads the word of elephants-conservation in the masses.
Many other species rely on elephants for their habitats as elephants prefer to inhabit wide open areas which mean that the survival of elephants is the survival of many species and its extinction would simply mean the demise of several other species.
Elephants play an inevitable role in bringing tourists from all over the world thereby serve as a source of collecting revenue.
First we need to understand that the endangerment of elephants is not just a wildlife issue, its global concern. Besides, the loss of biodiversity is the greatest ever threat to humanity so why does it not hold too much attention or awareness from people in general and conservationists in particular? It sounds obvious that elephants-conservation should be our forefront priority to be dealt with but it still remains an untold story. Don’t forget, it was the elephants that helped us walk out of Africa possibly 60,000 years ago. They also showed us a way to find water when in tribal times in east Africa, many people were deprived of this basic necessity. It was in conjunction with the elephants that we enrich the New World. So, don’t you think we owe them a lot? Don’t you think they deserve these measures? Indeed they do! We must never tell nor have to tell our children — “This is where the wild things were.”
Read more here: Elephant Facts