Africa’s monitored wildlife populations have declined an average of 80% since 1970, according to a new global assessment. The report also points to pockets of recovery where conservation efforts have been maintained over decades. The report on the decline in the average size of monitored populations was released Oct. 8 in the Living Planet Report […]
Tag: African Forest Elephant
Ancient elephant migration routes are being blocked off – can anything stop the rising death toll?
At nearly 3.5-metres tall and weighing as much as a bus, you could be forgiven for assuming that Goshi – one of an estimated 30 “super-tusker” elephants left in Africa – would be easy to find. The radio tracker picking up his signal beeps encouragingly, indicating the giant bull is within 200 metres. But the […]
As forest elephants plummet, ebony trees decline in Central Africa’s rainforests
In 2017, when Vincent Deblauwe joined the Cameroon-based Congo Basin Institute (CBI) to study African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora) — economically valuable pitch-black, dense wood — the Indigenous Baka people accompanied him on his field trips. As they sat around campfires and trekked through the rainforests, Deblauwe tapped into their knowledge of flora and fauna, especially […]
World’s smallest living elephants listed as Endangered on Red List
A newly confirmed elephant subspecies is already at risk of extinction. Bornean elephants have wider faces and smaller bodies than other Asian elephants. Standing just 2.5 meters tall, they narrowly beat the African forest elephant to the title of the smallest living elephant. Though they were first named in 1950, disagreement over whether these mammals […]
A New Species…
The African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) has only been considered to be a separate species for just over two years. Initially thought to be a sub-species of Loxodonta africana, the African Bush Elephant, several features distinguish the two. Straighter, harder ivory; a longer mandible; rounder ears; a longer tail; and an additional toenail on each […]
Only Three Left in Our Care…
Of the nearly 170 distinct species of elephants (members of the proboscidean species) that once roamed the earth, only three: the Asian, the African Savannah, and the African Forest Elephant remain today. There are many ways to help efforts to conserve these species. One specific avenue is to support valuable research projects such as this: […]