African elephant populations have fallen from an estimated 12 million a
century ago to some 400,000. In recent years, at least 20,000 elephants
have been killed in Africa each year for their tusks. African forest
elephants have been the worst hit. Their populations declined by 62%
between 2002-2011 and they have lost 30% of their geographical range, with
African savanna elephants declining by 30% between 2007-2014. This
dramatic decline has continued and even accelerated with cumulative losses
of up to 90% in some landscapes between 2011 and 2015.
Today, the greatest threat to African elephants is
wildlife crime, primarily poaching for the illegal ivory trade,
while the greatest threat to Asian elephants is habitat loss, which
results in human-elephant conflict. WWF has advocated for an end to
commercial elephant ivory sales in the US and other major markets like
China, Thailand, and Hong Kong as the most effective and efficient
solution to end this illegal ivory trade.