The African Elephant, scientifically known as the loxodonta africana, is the world’s largest land animal. There are two subspecies known as the savannah elephant, loxodonta africana africana, and the forest elephant, loxodonta africana cyclotis. They both live in central and western Africa; the savannah elephant lives in the grassy woodlands and plains, and the forest elephant lives in equatorial forests. The African Elephant has lived on the continent of Africa for thousands of years, and elephants themselves have lived on Earth for around 55 million years. But as of the 20th century, the African Elephant population has declined from 5 million to 500,000. The African Elephant has been placed on the threatened list by the IUCN in fear of the
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Thier diet consists of eating leaves and branches off of bushes and trees, and they also eat grasses, bark, and fruit. African Elephants can grow up to 6 tons, or 12,000lbs. Although massive, they travel in 10-70 elephant herds. The females and their offspring tend to roam around in a special system of herds, and the males either roam alone or form small groups with other males. Females stick alongside their male offspring until they reach puberty. Then they will venture off by themselves. The average African Elephant can live up to 70 years old, and they don’t have very many predators. Humans happen to be the biggest killer of the African Elephant, and are even included on food webs due to their massive impact on the animal. The African Elephant is a significant and symbolic animal of Africa, and as of recent, has been placed into IUCN’s threatened species list. Removing the elephant from this list is crucial; we can reverse this and restore the animal to its original …show more content…
First off, we can slow habitat loss. We can do this by sectioning off lands for the animal, reducing pollution in the surrounding habitat to limit damage to the animal, reducing the amount and spread of invasive species and plants, plant native vegetation, and ecological reserves and parks. All of these things will drastically reduce the amount of habitat destruction the African Elephant experiences. Secondly, we can strengthen activities against poachers, illegal wildlife trafficking, and the illegal trade market. We can do this by increasing punishments and the quality of court cases against the criminals that commit ANY crimes against ANY animal, “In 2008-9, 39 suspects were arrested in Zimbabwe for various rhino-related crimes, but only five suspects have been successfully prosecuted and convicted. Out of these five, only two got substantial sentences befitting their crimes, whilst the other three got away with paltry fines...this was caused by poor investigation of the cases; inadequate preparation and presentation in courts by the prosecution; likely cases of corruption; and a general lack of appreciation by court officials of the rhino poaching crisis…”(Save the Rhino). The quote shows that a really small amount of criminals are being caught for their crimes, a small amount of these criminals
Thier diet consists of eating leaves and branches off of bushes and trees, and they also eat grasses, bark, and fruit. African Elephants can grow up to 6 tons, or 12,000lbs. Although massive, they travel in 10-70 elephant herds. The females and their offspring tend to roam around in a special system of herds, and the males either roam alone or form small groups with other males. Females stick alongside their male offspring until they reach puberty. Then they will venture off by themselves. The average African Elephant can live up to 70 years old, and they don’t have very many predators. Humans happen to be the biggest killer of the African Elephant, and are even included on food webs due to their massive impact on the animal. The African Elephant is a significant and symbolic animal of Africa, and as of recent, has been placed into IUCN’s threatened species list. Removing the elephant from this list is crucial; we can reverse this and restore the animal to its original …show more content…
First off, we can slow habitat loss. We can do this by sectioning off lands for the animal, reducing pollution in the surrounding habitat to limit damage to the animal, reducing the amount and spread of invasive species and plants, plant native vegetation, and ecological reserves and parks. All of these things will drastically reduce the amount of habitat destruction the African Elephant experiences. Secondly, we can strengthen activities against poachers, illegal wildlife trafficking, and the illegal trade market. We can do this by increasing punishments and the quality of court cases against the criminals that commit ANY crimes against ANY animal, “In 2008-9, 39 suspects were arrested in Zimbabwe for various rhino-related crimes, but only five suspects have been successfully prosecuted and convicted. Out of these five, only two got substantial sentences befitting their crimes, whilst the other three got away with paltry fines...this was caused by poor investigation of the cases; inadequate preparation and presentation in courts by the prosecution; likely cases of corruption; and a general lack of appreciation by court officials of the rhino poaching crisis…”(Save the Rhino). The quote shows that a really small amount of criminals are being caught for their crimes, a small amount of these criminals