Elephants In The Dust

Southern Africa stands out from the other regions. Elephant populations have been steadily increasing since the early 20th century when the numbers were at an all-time low due to un- controlled sport hunting in the 19th century. Although poach- ing also occurred in Southern Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, the numbers were not even close to those of Central and East- ern Africa. In fact, the elephant populations of Southern Africa have, to a much greater extent, been protected through target-

ed conservation efforts. It is the only region that has shown a definite and clear population increase over recent decades. Latest estimates show definite population numbers to be about 250,000 elephants (IUCN/AfESG 2013).

Figure 6: African elephant population size by country.

24