The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will publish its new red list of endangered animals on Thursday, March 25. It has 37,480 endangered species against 35,765 in December 2020. And African forest elephants now fall into the category of “critically endangered” and “endangered” for savannah elephants. Forest elephants today occupy only a quarter of their original territory.
It is smaller than its cousin to the savannah, the forest elephant also has shorter, straighter teeth. Common to the two species is that their populations have decreased dramatically. 86% fewer individuals for the African forest elephant in thirty years. The population of savannah elephants has plummeted by more than half in the last 50 years. A decline that should sound the alarm according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Poaching and destruction of habitats
The decrease in the number of samples for both species is known. This can be explained until 2011 through intensive poaching to run the illegal ivory trade. And even if the phenomenon is today much more controlledit continues to threaten elephants.
But for NGOs, the most worrying thing is the destruction of pachyderm habitats to increase the area of farmland or felling. A positive point similarly in this painting and that says a lot. However, the reduction in human activity with the Covid-19 pandemic enabled these animals to “recolonize” certain areas from which human activity drove them.
The main threat is the rampant poaching of these animals for their ivory.
Florian Kirchner from IUCN France on the African forest elephant
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