Elephants require large
habitats to support their survival needs. Agricultural expansion, urbanization,
development, and the increasing human populations have all lead to a
destruction of elephant habitats. Logging, biofuel plantations, poverty,
and civil conflict have caused fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation not only reduces the area of elephant habitats but also isolates them. The greatest danger of habitat fragmentation to elephants is the resulting increase to predators (poachers) due to edge effects. This leads to
more human-elephant conflict as they come into contact with one another. As their habitats become smaller, more elephants run into farms, crops and
villages and often destroy them. Locals kill the elephants to stop them
or to seek revenge, then proceed to poach them and profit from their tusks (SOS Elephants, 2010). Although the effects of habitat fragmentation are relatively small compared to that of poaching, it is a factor that increases the amount of poaching.
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| Map of the African Elephant shrinking range (Christy) |
