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Monday, September 5th, 2016

Elephants in Drastic Decline, Says First-Ever Pan-African Survey

Author:     Wayne Pacelle
Source:     Alternet
Publication Date:     September 4, 2016
 Link: Elephants in Drastic Decline, Says First-Ever Pan-African Survey
Stephan:   My awakening to ecology and the matrix of life came in two parts: Learning the skills of backpacking and canoeing, and reading a book, The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary, which introduced me to the plight of the elephants because of their ivory. It is a horrible stupid story of poverty and greed that is destroying these iconic fellow beings with whom we share the planet. This is a balanced assessment of the situation, and you can download the report upon which it is based.

The number of elephants in the African savanna is in drastic decline, their population having dwindled by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, according to the Great Elephant Census, the first-ever pan-African survey of savanna elephants. (emphasis added) The recently released report was funded by philanthropist Paul G. Allen.

This extraordinarily detailed and comprehensive effort, which required the participation of 90 scientists doing on-the-ground work in 18 countries, paints a deeply disturbing picture for the future of this iconic species. Between 2007 and 2014, the number of elephants dropped by a startling 144,000. Continent-wide elephant populations are shrinking by eight percent each year. Some of the worst declines are in Angola, Mozambique, and Tanzania. In certain parts of Cameroon and Zambia, elephant populations could be facing local extirpation. In Zimbabwe’s Sebungwe region — on the Zambezi River and Lake Kariba north of Hwange National Park — populations are down by a sickening 74 percent.

Graphic by Great Elephant Census

The cruelty that is associated with the decline is soul-numbing. Mike Chase, the scientist who led the survey, told CNN that in just two days, his team counted the remains of more than 20 […]

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