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African Elephant


  • Status
  • Population
    Approximately 415,000 in the wild
  • Scientific Name
    Loxodonta africana
  • Height
    Shoulder height is 11 feet
  • Weight
    6 tons
  • Length
    19-24 feet
  • Habitats
    Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Flooded Grasslands and Savannahs, Miombo woodlands, Acacia savannahs



Can we use social media to help save elephants?

For Chinese tourists traveling internationally, ivory demand has increased. WWF worked to combat that trend via a social media campaign focused on reaching travelers through Chinese social platforms.
elephan summer2019

The African Elephant Family

Why They Matter

  • The presence of African elephants helps to maintain suitable habitats for many other species. In central African forests, up to 30 percent of tree species may require elephants to help with dispersal and germination. They play a pivotal role in shaping their habitat because of the enormous impact they have on factors ranging from fresh water to forest cover.


  • Population Approximately 415,000 in the wild
  • Extinction Risk Vulnerable
    1. EX

      No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died

    2. EW
      Extinct in the Wild


    3. CR
      Critically Endangered

      Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild

    4. EN

      Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild

    5. VU

      Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild

    6. NT
      Near Threatened

      Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future

    7. LC
      Least Concern


African Elephant Confiscating Conflict ivory

Confiscated ivory.

Numbering three to five million in the last century, African elephant populations were severely reduced to its current levels because of hunting. In the 1980s, an estimated 100,000 elephants were killed each year and up to 80% of herds were lost in some regions. In recent years, growing demand for ivory, particularly from Asia, has led to a surge in poaching. Populations of elephants—especially in southern and eastern Africa—that once showed promising signs of recovery could be at risk due to the recent surge in poaching for the illegal ivory trade.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

The illegal demand for ivory is the biggest driver of elephant poaching. Despite a global CITES ban on international sales of ivory since 1990, tens of thousands of elephants are killed to meet a growing demand for ivory products in the Far East. Asia stands behind a steadily increasing trend in illegal ivory and there are still thriving domestic ivory markets in Africa. Limited resources combined with remote and inaccessible elephant habitats make it difficult for governments to monitor and protect elephant herds. The impacts of war and over-exploitation of natural resources often lead to increased poaching as elephants are also regarded as source of wild meat. 2011 saw the highest volume of illegal ivory seized since global records began in 1989.

Habitat Loss and Fragmentation

African elephants have less room to roam than ever before as expanding human populations convert land for agriculture, settlements and developments. The elephants’ range shrank from three million square miles in 1979 to just over one million square miles in 2007. Commercial logging, plantations for biofuels and extractive industries like logging and mining not only destroy habitat but also open access to remote elephant forests for poachers. Poverty, armed conflict and the displacement of people by civil conflict also add to habitat loss and fragmentation. All of these push elephants into smaller islands of protected areas and hinder elephants’ freedom to roam.

Human-Elephant Conflict

African elephant human - elephant conflict


As habitats contract and human populations expand, people and elephants are increasingly coming into contact with each other. Where farms border elephant habitat or cross elephant migration corridors, damage to crops and villages can become commonplace. This often leads to conflicts that elephants invariably lose. But loss of life can occur on both sides, as people may be trampled while trying to protect their livelihoods, and game guards often shoot "problem" elephants.

What WWF Is Doing

African Elephant

Ivory confiscated in Gabon.

Building on 50 years of experience, WWF addresses illegal hunting for meat and ivory, habitat loss, and human-elephant conflict to protect African elephant populations.

Fighting Illegal Wildlife Trade

To reduce the illegal trade in elephant products, WWF supports antipoaching efforts within and around protected areas. We also work to establish new protected areas to provide safe havens for elephants. We work with TRAFFIC, the world’s largest wildlife trade monitoring network, to assess trends in the illegal trade in elephant products. This includes implementing the CITES Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) which monitors and tracks elephant ivory seizures.

Protecting and Managing Habitats

To reduce the illegal killing of elephants through improved protection and management, WWF equips and trains law enforcement teams so they can conduct regular and effective antipoaching patrols. We help establish new protected areas within elephant ranges and improve management effectiveness within existing protected areas.

WWF helps governments produce and adopt elephant conservation strategies, allowing them to survey, and manage elephant populations and to implement the CITES system for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE). We facilitate training in elephant conservation and management techniques and help update and enforce legislation to protect elephants. WWF has helped train park guards, villagers and communities in elephant conservation and management. In Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique, WWF worked with the local government and community to establish a park management system that would protect wildlife and livelihoods. WWF also develops and supports community-based wildlife management plans that contribute to elephant conservation while providing benefits to local people.

Mitigating Conflict

To increase public support for elephant conservation by reducing conflict, WWF trains wildlife managers and local communities to use modern methods and tools to mitigate human-elephant conflict. In places like the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, WWF monitors interactions between humans and elephants and works with local communities to develop sustainable practices of mitigating conflict with elephants.


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