The African elephant population has faced a severe crisis driven by human activity over recent decades. Both the African forest elephant and the African savanna elephant have experienced widespread population declines due to overexploitation and the loss of natural areas. Current estimates place the total number of African elephants at around 415,000 individuals across the continent. The forest elephant population has seen a drastic reduction of more than 86% over a 31-year period. This decline is a direct result of two primary pressures: the illegal ivory trade and competition for space arising from human expansion.
Killing Driven by the Illegal Ivory Trade
The primary mechanism for the large-scale killing of elephants is the illegal trade in ivory, which is the material composing their tusks. This illicit market is fueled by high consumer demand, predominantly in East Asian countries, where ivory is often viewed as a luxury status symbol or used in carvings. The high value assigned to the commodity transforms elephants into a target for profit-driven commercial poaching operations.
The economic incentive is substantial, with raw ivory selling for approximately $1,000 per pound in some East Asian markets. A single pair of large tusks can therefore represent tens of thousands of dollars, making the killing of an elephant a highly profitable venture for criminal enterprises. This demand has historically caused the loss of an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 elephants annually across Africa.
Commercial poachers often employ increasingly sophisticated and brutal methods to acquire ivory efficiently. They utilize modern hunting rifles and night-vision equipment to evade law enforcement patrols in protected areas. The illegal trade focuses specifically on tusks, meaning the elephants are killed purely for this single body part, leaving their carcasses to rot.
Elephant Killing Resulting from Human-Wildlife Conflict
A distinct and localized cause of elephant mortality stems from the direct conflict that occurs when human settlements expand into elephant habitats. This human-wildlife conflict is fundamentally rooted in habitat loss and fragmentation caused by agriculture, infrastructure development, and human population growth. As human activity encroaches on traditional elephant migratory routes and foraging areas, the overlap between species increases.
Elephants, which require vast amounts of food and water, are drawn to agricultural fields, leading to frequent and destructive crop raiding. A single herd can wipe out a farmer’s entire annual harvest in one night, eliminating their food security and economic livelihood. This devastation generates intense resentment among local communities who are often living at a subsistence level.
The resulting violence is often retaliatory, defensive, or preventative, rather than commercially motivated. Farmers and villagers resort to killing elephants to protect their families, property, and crops from immediate threat. This localized form of killing remains a significant source of elephant deaths and a major impediment to conservation efforts in shared landscapes.
Underlying Factors Enabling Large-Scale Poaching
The persistence of the illegal ivory trade is supported by systemic weaknesses that enable the full supply chain to operate with relatively low risk. Transnational organized crime groups (TOCs) have taken control of the trafficking networks, treating the illegal wildlife trade as a multi-billion dollar enterprise. These groups coordinate the entire process, from paying the poachers in the field to smuggling the ivory to international markets.
These criminal networks exploit and perpetuate institutional weaknesses, such as corruption among government and law enforcement officials. Bribes and undue influence allow traffickers to move illegal shipments across international borders with minimal scrutiny. The failure to adequately prosecute wildlife crimes further lowers the perceived risk for poachers and high-level traffickers.
Poverty in the regions where elephants live acts as a continuous source of labor for these criminal operations. High unemployment rates in local communities make the small payments offered by poachers a viable economic option for individuals struggling to survive.