African Elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

Extinction risk

• Overall, ongoing continent-wide population declines (Thouless et al. 2016; Gobush et al. 2021; Gobush et al. 2022; Edwards et al. 2024)
• Driven by resurgence in ivory poaching that began around 2006 (eg, Underwood et al. 2013; Chase et al. 2016; Thouless et al. 2016 citing CITES 2016; Edwards et al. 2024)
• But some savanna elephant populations stable or beginning to increase—see “Savanna elephant,” below
• Forest elephant at higher extinction risk than savanna elephant (eg, Turkalo et al. 2017; Amin et al. 2020)
• More confined range and limited suitable habitat
• Forest elephant populations appear to take far longer to recover, compared to savanna elephant populations (Turkalo et al. 2017; Turkalo et al. 2018)

Population estimates

• “African elephants”: 2 species combined
• Approximately 415,000 (based on datasets until 2016) (Thouless et al. 2016; AfSEG Elephant Database 2024)
• Possibly another 117,000 to 135,000 individuals in habitat areas not yet surveyed
• Smallest populations in West Africa, especially of forest elephant (Thouless et al. 2016)
• Largest populations of savanna elephant in southern Africa (most intact, continuous range) (Thouless et al. 2016)
• Roughly twice as many individuals as East Africa (Poole et al. 2013)
• See Thouless et al. (2016) for regional data
• Savanna elephant
• Overall, continent-wide declines of about 70% over a 50-year period (mid-1960s to 2016) (Edwards et al. 2024)
• Chase et al. (2016) reported at least 350,000 individuals in an analysis of 18 (of 30+) range countries
• Populations in western, northern, and central Africa at higher risk (see Chase et al. 2016; Edwards et al. 2024)
• Conservation gains made in southern Africa
• Since the mid-1990s, many savanna elephant populations in southern Africa—where 70% of the global population occurs—have stabilized or slowly begun increasing (Edwards et al. 2024; Huang et al. 2024; R. Huang, personal communication, 2025)
• Indicates that conservation efforts are succeeding—steep population declines have halted and populations beginning to recover across this region
• Some other regional populations show signs of early recovery (eg, Kibale National Park, Uganda; Reyna-Hurtado et al. 2023)
• Recovering populations may still have disrupted social systems and sex ratios, which can impact mortality rates and population recovery (eg, Poole and Thomsen 1989; Archie and Chiyo 2012; Wittemyer et al. 2013; Breuer et al. 2016; Jones et al. 2018; Campbell-Staton et al. 2021; Poole and Granli 2022)
• Forest elephant
• Overall, continent-wide declines of at least 90% over a 50-year period (Edwards et al. 2024)
• Many subpopulations driven to local extinction (Gobush et al. 2021)
• Most populations have sharply declined in just 1 to 2 decades (Michelmore et al. 1994; Blake et al. 2007; Maisels et al. 2013; Poulsen et al. 2017; Nowak 2018; Amin et al. 2020; Bush et al. 2020; Kouakou et al. 2020; Funk et al. 2022)
• Driven primarily by poaching for the illegal ivory trade, and also habitat loss and food shortages driven by climate change
• Poulsen et al. (2017), studying a remote protected area in Gabon, estimated an 80% population decline over a 10-year period (2004 to 2014)
• Kouakou et al. (2020) found that forest elephants were locally extinct in 84% of protected areas they surveyed in Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)—a country named for its historic abundance of elephants
• Nearly extinct in Democratic Republic of Congo (Blake et al. 2007; Maisels et al. 2013)
• Largest populations in Gabon and Liberia (Nowak 2018; Laguardia et al. 2021; also see Brand et al. 2020)
• A nationwide, systematic DNA-based survey by Laguardia et al. (2019) estimates about 95,000 individuals in Gabon

Historical population estimates

(Milner-Gulland and Beddington 1993; Nowak 2018, and as noted)

• Estimates prior to the 1960s “largely anecdotal” (Edwards et al. 2024)
• Early 1800s
• Perhaps as many as 27 million “African elephants”
• Mid-1800s
• Fewer than 10 million individuals
• Dramatic decline due to habitat loss and hunting
• About 1900 to 1950
• Rough estimate of several million individuals

IUCN

• African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana)
• Endangered (2020 assessment) (Gobush et al. 2022)
• African forest elephant (L. cyclotis)
• Critically Endangered (2020 assessment) (Gobush et al. 2021)

CITES

• Appendix I (Stiles 2004; Van Aarde and Ferreira 2009; UNEP 2019)
• Except for populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, which are included on Appendix II (Riddle et al. 2010; UNEP 2019)
• African forest elephant (L. cyclotis)
• Combined listing with savanna elephant (L. africana)
• Not yet recognized as a separate species with distinct protection needs (Poulsen et al. 2017)
• Poulsen et al. (2017) recommend listing on CITES Appendix I

Government laws and regulations

• United States
• 1989: U.S. bans ivory imports, following a global CITES ban (Stiles 2004; Van Aarde and Ferreira 2009; UNEP 2019)

African savanna elephant near Ndutu Lodge—on the border of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons with Creative Commons. (Creator: nickandmel2006 on Flickr.)