African elephant  (Loxodonta africana)

Elephants have been hunted over the centuries for their tusks, which are traded as ivory (2). In the 1970s to 80s, an increased demand in ivory had a negative impact on elephant numbers across much of the species' range (12). Kenya was one of the worst affected countries (8), where the population plummeted by perhaps as much as 85 percent between 1973 and 1989 (12). Today, one of the major issues in elephant conservation is the conflict between elephants and a growing human population (2). Up to 80 percent of the elephant's range occurs outside of protected areas, where they frequently cause widespread damage to agriculture and water supplies (13). This conflict often results in injury or death for both people and elephants (9).

A ban on the international trade in elephant products including ivory was implemented in 1990, when the African elephant was added to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), although the populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have since been transferred to Appendix II (4). Indeed, sport hunting of elephants remains permitted under the legislation of a number of range states, and several countries currently have CITES export quotas for elephant trophies (1). Nevertheless, protection of the species has been high-profile in many countries, often involving armed guards, and the Kenyan Wildlife Service famously burnt a stockpile of tusks in protest against the ivory trade (7).

The African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) of the IUCN/SSC (Species Survival Commission) has also set up a Human Elephant Conflict Working Group (HECWG) to address the issues of conserving a species that has the ability to be detrimental to a human population (14). Beyond the controversy surrounding the taxonomic status of African elephants, the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) believes that different approaches are needed for the different problems facing the elephant in each country and region, and conservation strategies are therefore developed at the national or regional scales (5).