The first mapping of the genome of the Elephantidae family revealed that in Africa there are two species of elephant, not one as had been believed until three years ago: the savanna elephant and the forest elephant.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (Iucn), which had previously classified the African elephant as "vulnerable", has finally included both species in the "red list" of animals at risk of extinction, but its verdict is not a positive one. While the savanna elephant is considered "endangered", the forest elephant is classified as "critically endangered" — the highest level of alert.

The dramatic decline of African elephants

Just half a century ago, around 1.5 million elephants lived on the African continent. According to the most recent census of 2016, there are now only 415,000. The population of forest elephants — which differ in being slightly smaller and are found mainly in the Congo Basin — has declined by 86 per cent since 1990; that of savanna elephants, whose largest group is in Botswana, has fallen by more than 60 per cent over the past fifty years.

The main threats to the pachyderms

The most serious threats to the pachyderms are the climate crisis and the resulting drought, poaching driven largely by demand for ivory, habitat loss and conflicts with local communities. Poaching in particular has by now become a phenomenon involving terrorist groups and organised crime, given the profit that can be made from the illegal trade in wild animal parts.

Stopping the traffickers will be only the first step towards saving elephants. "If we do not reverse the trend, we risk witnessing the extinction of these animals. It is not only poaching that threatens them, but the progressive destruction of natural habitat to make way for agricultural land," warns Benson Okita-Ouma, co-chair of the Iucn group tasked with addressing the African elephant. "If we do not start planning land use appropriately, these mammals will continue to be killed indirectly even if we put a stop to illegal hunting."

There are success stories

It is therefore essential that pachyderms are given the space they deserve, as has been the case for the forest elephants living in the protected areas of Gabon and the Republic of Congo and the savanna elephants that inhabit the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area, which spans the territory of five different countries. The steps needed to prevent the disappearance of these iconic species are clear — not to mention that having finally distinguished between them will make it possible to study them better and to draw up tailored action plans for both.