African elephant numbers decline due to human conflict
The African elephant is suffering significant losses as a result of human actions: war and poaching, to be specific.
Reporting online in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers from the University of British Columbia said the elephant population at Okapi Faunal Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo have fallen by 50% in the last decade due to civil war and ivory poaching. The number of elephants dropped from 6,439 to 3,288.
In other parks in the eastern part of the country the decline has been even more precipitous.
"Having protected areas is not enough to save elephants in times of conflict," said the study's lead author Rene Beyers, a postdoctoral fellow in the university's department of zoology. "The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo had a large impact on elephant populations, including those in the parks and reserves."
Beyers said two measures appear to be effective in addressing the problem: the presence of highly committed government field workers and support from international organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society and UNESCO.
The following video shot by a motion-activated camera shows an elephant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
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