HomeScience and ResearchSustainabilityEthiopian elephant species now endangered and under threat - says Oxford study

Ethiopian elephant species now endangered and under threat – says Oxford study

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Tens of thousands of unlawful human settlements represent a serious threat to the survival of an endangered Ethiopian elephant population, says a new study carried out by the researchers of the University of Oxford and the Born Free Foundation

Researchers from Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment and Born Free discovered that the number of unauthorized houses in the sanctuary increased from 18,000 to more than 50,000 in the 11 years to 2017. There are around 32,000 dwellings in the region where elephants roam.

According to the experts, unless the sanctuary’s integrity is restored, and security and poverty issues are addressed, the Babile Elephant Sanctuary’s elephants will be extinct in a short period. The sanctuary is home to Africa’s farthest north-eastern population of African Savannah Elephants, one of just six in Ethiopia.

With a population of more than 110 million people, the country has a severe lack of land and strong demand for natural resources.

Earlier studies have shown that increased human-related pressures, limited government assistance, and civil unrest have all been found to threaten the integrity and effectiveness of numerous protected areas in Ethiopia.

According to Emily Neil, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment,

“The situation in the Babile Elephant Sanctuary is critical. There are now only around 250 elephants left. Without the rapid resolution of the many human issues putting pressure on the elephants it is difficult to foresee a future in which this population of elephants survives.”

The elephant population is under pressure from a variety of sources. The Born Free Foundation ran a field project in the sanctuary from 2015 to 2019, mobilizing Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority rangers to conduct daily elephant population monitoring. This allowed researchers to better understand the elephant’s range and prove that, in addition to poaching, human–elephant conflict is a major cause of elephant mortality.

The team argues that the sanctuary’s environmental, poverty, and security concerns must be tackled together in light of a growing rural human population dependent on restricted natural resources, persistent civil instability, poverty, and food insecurity.

Source: 10.1017/S0030605320001088

Image Credit: Getty

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