A wildlife conservation conversation about elephants with Dr Paula Kahumbu

Posted on 3 April 2018

“The elephant’s survival is in jeopardy across Africa. Poaching is high due to the rising price of ivory. In addition, elephants are losing their habitat and are increasingly coming into conflict with people and this causes retaliation and death”, says Dr Paula Kahumbu, the CEO of Wildlife Direct.

Wildlife Direct is a non-profit organisation that aims to save Africa’s wildlife.

Elephants are known for being intellectual and emotional animals. Image by Ondela Mlandu

On a recent trip to Limpopo, I spoke to Dr Paula Kahumbu about the plight of elephants, that are killed throughout Africa on a daily basis. Dr Paula is best known as a top wildlife conservationist and an elephant whisperer. Her organisation – Wildlife Direct aims to make a difference for African wildlife through awareness and conservation. As a young girl, she had dreams of becoming a game ranger and today her initiatives aim to strengthen the fight against the poaching crisis of African animals.

This is what she had to say about the elephants and the elephant crisis at hand:

 

Is it true there are two African elephant species?

Most people believe that African elephants are two species and genetically they seem distinct. However, they can cross breed which suggests that they are not as distantly related as for example horses and zebras.

What are the conservation implications if there are two species? 

The African forest elephant numbers are far fewer than the savanna elephant and therefore is in greater jeopardy of extinction due to poaching.

What are the morphological and behavioural differences between the savanna and forest elephants of Africa? 

The Savanna elephants are larger with larger tusks and live in much bigger herds. The Forest elephants live in rain forest habitats and have long narrow downward pointing tusks. They come from smaller herds.

Can elephants adapt to cold weather?

Elephants are incredibly flexible in the environments they live in. Because they are large-bodied animals they simply need lots of food. They do climb to the tops of most of Africa’s mountains but do not tolerate snow and ice. 

What strategies have been put into place to protect the African Elephant?

This cutie was spotted in the wild, along with a herd. Image by Ondela Mlandu

African countries are united in ending ivory trade and destroying ivory stockpiles to prevent future trade in ivory. Many countries have also banned ivory trade. This is the single greatest global effort to protect them. Many countries have stepped up anti poaching and law enforcement efforts. Most countries have also given elephants special status, such as Kenya, where killing or harming elephants attracts very serious penalties.

Electric fences are used to protect elephants and people from each other and new conservation areas are being created. Parks have expanded to increase the amount of space available for elephants. The proudly South African brand, Amarula has also played a big part in create awareness and dedicated to helping the plight of the African Elephant. Last year, Wild Life Direct along with Amarula ran the #DontLetThemDisappear campaign in order to create awareness and highlight that an elephant is killed every 15 minutes.






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