<
https://theconversation.com/nigeria-risks-losing-all-its-forest-elephants-what-we-found-when-we-went-looking-for-them-222093>
"Nigeria is one of 37 African countries where elephants are found in the wild.
Savannah elephants (
Loxodonta africana) can be found in the north and forest
elephants (
Loxodonta cyclotis) in the south.
It’s not clear how many elephants there are in Nigeria. Eighteen years ago, the
African Elephant Study Report estimated that there were just 94 elephants
left in the country. In 2021, it was estimated that there could be about 400
elephants in areas not systematically surveyed.
What we do know, however, is that the numbers and ranges of elephants in
Nigeria have declined greatly over time. The main cause of this has been human
activity, like logging and agriculture, which threaten their survival by
reducing their natural habitat. Some elephant populations have been lost.
Others exist only in small, fragmented areas.
Elephant surveys had not been carried out in southern Nigeria for over a
decade, and sightings of forest elephants are rare. Forest elephants are of
particular interest because they’re classified as Critically Endangered by the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
We carried out a study to establish their presence and determine the factors
affecting their conservation.
We visited four protected areas in two national parks and one forest reserve in
southern Nigeria. We did find small populations, totalling 40 forest elephants.
This is not a viable population in the long run as it has been suggested that
“viable” elephant populations may range from 400 to 6,000 individuals.
Their survival is being threatened for six reasons, in particular the impact of
people’s activities."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
