The African Elephant is one of the worlds most iconic and recognizable animals. Africa would not be the same without these beautiful, and intelligent animals. The African Elephant, alongside their cousins: the Asian Elephant, are unique to the world.
There are no other animals like them.
Where Do African Elephants Live?
As their name suggests; African Elephants live in the continent of Africa, and they are pretty widespread throughout the continent. Out of the 54 countries in Africa; 37 of them are home to the African Elephant. They are abundant across the African continent. The two subspecies of African Elephants can be found in 37 countries.
What Are the African Elephant Subspecies?
There are two African Elephant subspecies.
The first subspecies is know as the Savanna Elephant. The Savanna Elephant is found in Southern and Eastern countries within Africa. Their habitat is sub-Saharan forest, savannas and forests.
Savanna Elephants have been declining over the last few years. In 2016, it was reported that the Savanna Elephant population had declined by 30%. Their population today stands at 352,271 individual Savanna Elephants in the wild. They are the most populous of the two Elephant subspecies. The total population of the two subspecies is 415,000 individual African Elephants in the wild.
The second subspecies, is the Forest Elephant. The Forest Elephant is the rarest of the two subspecies of African Elephant. The Forest Elephant population has declined by over 60%, which has left them as a 'vulnerable' species: there are now 100,000 Forest Elephants left in the wild today. These animals have been declining due to their forest home being destroyed: Africa has lost over 60% of its forests, which has resulted in Forests Elephants declining.
Habitat loss is not the only reason that these animals are declining; they are also declining and at threat of extinction, due to the illegal wildlife trade. The illegal wildlife trade is resulting in people poaching these elephants. The poachers are targeting these Elephants because of their tusks; they will kill the Elephants to take their tusk and sell these tusks for a profit.
The Illegal Wildlife Trade
The illegal wildlife trade is one of the main reasons that the Elephant is declining fast today. Elephant poaching is so bad, that it is estimated that 400 Elephants are killed every single day by poachers. This means, that 36,5000 African Elephants are being killed every single year by poachers: something that could result in African Elephants becoming extinct in the near future.