Worst Places in Africa to Be an Elephant
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Credit: Business DailyA recent report shows elephant poaching's resurgence in Africa. Over the past five years, elephant population numbers have dwindled to dangerous lows in some areas and the number large-scale ivory seizures have more than doubled. A report by four groups – the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) - illustrates the new challenges faced on the elephant poaching front.
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Credit: CITESMuch of the demand for ivory comes from end-use markets in Asia, particularly China and Thailand, according to the report. Ivory is seen as a symbol of high social status in these regions. More specifically, middle class Chinese citizens are making more money, helping to drive the demand for ivory in that region.
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Credit: CITESSouthern Africa is not a terrible place to be an elephant. Botswana is far and away the country with the largest elephant population on the continent.
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Credit: CITESPopulations such as the one along the Zambezi river remain large, stable and healthy. Southern Africa also plays host to the largest percentage of range area on the continent. According to the most recent estimates, 39 percent of Africa's range area lies in the region.
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Credit: CITESThe report warns that poaching is spreading into Southern Africa, evidenced by Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants (PIKE) estimates for 2011. The latest numbers suggest one in every two elephants killed in Southern Africa are killed illegally.
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Credit: Lauren Everitt/AllAfricaElephants in East Africa are slightly less bountiful than in Southern Africa. Almost 30 percent of Africa's elephant population resides in the region.
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Credit: Kevin WalshTanzania is the leader in the region in terms of elephant population. When grouped with Southern African nations Botswana and Zimbabwe, the three countries account for well over 50 percent of the continent's elephants.
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Credit: CITESEast Africa plays host to 26 percent of the continent's range area, but the report estimates that human impact will have (and is having) tremendous effect on the amount of range area in the region. Rapidly-developing countries such as Kenya could increase such human impact unless appropriate measures are taken for range conservation, as the report suggests.
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Credit: CITESThe Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants or “MIKE" program generates PIKE numbers by surveying 60 sites in 31 range states, accounting for approximately 40 percent of Africa's elephant population.
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Credit: CITESKilling rates exceed natural population growth rates in Central and West Africa and smaller elephant populations face extinction in certain areas.
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Credit: Anup Shah/WWFNumbers out of West Africa are not as easy to analyze due to many “small and fragmented" elephant populations, according to the report.
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Credit: CITESHowever, the data gathered from services such as MIKE is reason enough for high concern in the region. The broken up elephant populations make poaching much more difficult to track and, thus, to combat.
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Credit: CITESCentral Africa had the highest PIKE ratio of the four regions observed. Approximately 90 percent of elephant carcasses were deemed as illegally killed or poached by MIKE officials.
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Credit: Andréa TurkaloBased on MIKE data, the report estimates that 14 percent of the entire elephant population in Central Africa was killed in 2011, double the natural elephant population growth rate, making it the worst place in Africa to be an elephant.
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