The Current Elephant Poaching Trend. (2009)

African and Asian elephants are in for tough times ahead. Their problems are complex. In southern Africa worries are still expressed about ‘too many elephants’ destroying woody vegetation in protected areas. In most of their range, crop raiding and conflict with human beings is reported every week. Currently, there are at least two horrendous droughts in Africa with negative effects on elephants-one in northern Kenya and another in Mali-perhaps related to widespread climate change but very much aggravated by habitat degradation caused by livestock overgrazing. Almost everywhere that elephants live, there is an ever-expanding, resource-hungry human population, with many who live hand- to-mouth. An enormous challenge lies ahead of reconciling conservation with poverty alleviation, and yet leaving adequate space for elephants and other wildlife.