Elephant Numbers Continue To Dwindle

Even the most remote protected areas in Central Africa is no match for poachers on the hunt for gentle giants. As of late February, it has been reported that between 78 and 81 percent of forest elephants in one of the largest preserves was lost due to hunting elephants.

John Poulsen, an assistant professor of tropical ecology at Duke University, said in a news release that, "Our research suggests that more than 25,000 elephants in Gabon's Minkébé National Park may have been killed for their ivory between 2004 and 2014." He also added that nearly half of Central America's estimated 100,000 forest elephant population lives in Gabon. The loss of 25,000 of them has been a considerable setback regarding the preservation of the species.

The research analysis was detailed in the journal Current Biology. It suggested that a significant portion of the poaching came from Gabon's northern border, in Cameroon. Poulsen noted that the changes in the abundance and geographic distribution of elephant dung helped them identify two fronts of the pressure from such poaching practice.

Lack of easily accessible roads in the south of the park somewhat relieved poaching pressures. However, the central and northern parts of the park are only a few miles from a major road, leading from Cameroon, connecting the parklands to its largest city, Douala, which is known for its illegal ivory trade.

Fiona Maisels, a conservation scientists who was part of a 2013 study, noted that the loss of elephant population in Gabon is even graver than researchers and scientists realize. She noted that the area is among the last strongholds in the animal preservation. "Their last bastions are now being eroded," she added.

Gabon's government has put up measures against poaching. In recent years, it even granted forest elephants full protection under the law, with anti-poaching police force burning all ivory confiscated from hunters. However, as UPI mentioned, a single nation can only do so much on its own. To help regain elephant population, there should be help from its neighbors as well.