Dublin, Holly T.

This report synthesizes insights and lessons from decades of experience in community wildlife management (CWM), supplementing this with insights from more recent work focused on community-level responses to tackling the current illegal trade in wildlife (ITW) “crisis”.

Some of the most important decisions in wildlife management in Africa revolve around elephants. Where elephant densities increase the impact of elephants on their habitats and other species may also increase. Depending on local values and/or the land-use objectives, this impact is often seen as undesirable. Information about attempts to control wild populations of elephants is generally not readily accessible to the relevant managers and conservation authorities in Africa.

The African Elephant Database is a spatial database used to store, manage, analyze and disseminate information on the distribution and abundance of elephant populations on the African continent, in order to provide a current and accurate picture of the status African elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals, and their potential impact on their habitats raises important management issues both for protected areas and unprotected land.

African elephants are confronted with habitat loss and degradation and increasing levels of human – elephant conflict. Management authorities in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly turning to translocation as a means to meet such challenges. This trend has to take into account changing political and welfare considerations for elephants, and managers need to understand the justification for translocation as well as the technical challenges.

African elephants are confronted with habitat loss and degradation and increasing levels of human-elephant conflict. Management authorities in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly turning to translocation as a means to meet such challenges. This trend has to take into account changing political and welfare considerations for elephants, and managers need to understand the justification for translocation as well as the technical challenges.

African elephants are confronted with habitat loss and degradation and increasing levels of human – elephant conflict. Management authorities in sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly turning to translocation as a means to meet such challenges. This trend has to take into account changing political and welfare considerations for elephants, and managers need to understand the justification for translocation as well as the technical challenges.

The African elephant is the largest living land mammal, and their potential impact on their habitats raises important management issues both for protected areas and unprotected land. This Status Report, derived from data contained in the African Elephant Database, is rich in data and information on numbers, distribution and current issues, and provides continent-wide information that is vital for conservation.