African Elephants

• Nigeria recently destroyed 5 tonnes of seized elephant tusks valued at over 9.9 billion naira ($11.2 million) in a push to protect its dwindling elephant population from rampant wildlife traffickers.
• Thousands of elephants are killed each year for their tusks despite a 1989 ban on the trade of ivory by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

ABOUT AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

• African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth.
  • They are slightly larger than Asian Elephants.
• Characteristics
  • African elephants have much larger ears that look like the continent of Africa.
  • They have rounded heads.
  • Both male and female African elephants can have tusks.
• Elephants are matriarchal i.e. they live in female-led groups.
• Threats –Poaching, Habitat loss because of increasing human population, and conversion of land for agriculture and development etc.
• Classified into two types-
  • African Savanna (or bush) elephant: They are larger animals that roam the plains of sub-Saharan Africa.
    • IUCN Red List: Endangered
  • African Forest Elephants: They are smaller animals that live in the forests of Central and West Africa.
    • IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered