By F. Maisels, C.R. Thouless, R. Mayienda, M. Yahya, J. Hart, H. Frederick, T. Breuer, C.T. Renn, R. Slotow, B. Okita-Ouma – the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group
Executive summary
This is the sixth African Elephant Status Report (AESR) produced by the African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). Like its predecessors, this report is based on data from the African Elephant Database (AED). Since the 2016 African Elephant Status Report was published, the IUCN Species Survival Commission has recognised two distinct species of African elephants – the African forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, and the African savanna elephant, Loxodonta africana. For the first time, this report provides information on the status of African forest elephants treated separately from savanna elephants, with a separate report on the latter species to be published in 2026. The savanna volume will include a section that combines the totals for both species, facilitating comparison with previous reports. This report will be referred to as the African Forest Elephant Status Report (AFESR) and the savanna elephant report will be referred to as the African Savanna Elephant Status Report (ASESR). This is the first comparison of continental forest elephant populations between 2016 and 2024 across 22 range states (see Contents pages for full list, and the map in “Continental Overview’’).
The number of elephants reported in the AFESR 2024 is the best available approximation to the true number of elephants in Africa at the end of 2024, but there are several ways in which the true number is likely to differ from this. If a population is decreasing, then a survey carried out early in the reporting period will provide a higher estimate than one carried out later (and vice versa for an increasing population). This is a particular concern where there is an old guess for an area for which there is no recent information, and deciding whether to retain or delete this old guess is a particularly difficult decision. Some surveys have been carried out during the reporting period, but reports have not been completed, or have not been made available to the AfESG. The AED may also under-record the true number of elephants. For instance, aerial counts tend to undercount the true number of elephants. Dung survey results may use inaccurate defecation rates and dung decay rates for the area and /or time of survey, resulting in either an under- or over-count. Sample surveys provide an estimate with an associated expression of precision, typically 95% confidence limits or standard error. Many of the guesses contributed to this report come from areas known to contain elephant populations, but which have either not been surveyed or not been surveyed to the standard required for an estimate. Finally, there are places for which estimates or guesses cannot be provided because they have not been visited by anyone in communication with the AfESG, which may result in an undercount if there actually are elephants in these areas.
The true number of elephants is likely to be greater than the estimates based on surveys alone, though not necessarily greater than the combined estimates and guesses.
For full report:
