# The African Elephant: Two Species, One Crisis

*KENYA & TANZANIA · MAY 20 2026*

> Africa has two elephant species — the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana, Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis, Critically Endangered) — together comprising an estimated 415,000 wild individuals, down from an estimated 1.3 million in 1979, driven mainly by ivory poaching and habitat conversion.

The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered). Both are in steep decline, driven by ivory poaching and habitat loss.

## What are the key takeaways from this briefing?
- Two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).
- Combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979.
- Listed on CITES Appendix I and Appendix II depending on population.
- Kenya and Tanzania together hold one of the most significant remaining savanna elephant populations.
- Snaring is a major non-targeted cause of elephant injury — directly relevant to WARN's planned anti-snaring work.

For most of modern conservation history, "the African elephant" was treated as one species. In 2021, the IUCN formally recognised what genetic and morphological evidence had long suggested: two distinct species. The **African savanna elephant** (Loxodonta africana) is now listed as Endangered. The smaller, rounder-eared **African forest elephant** (Loxodonta cyclotis) of Central and West African forests is listed as Critically Endangered.

WARN is preparing to operate in **Kenya** and **Tanzania**, two countries that between them host one of the largest remaining savanna elephant populations in the world.

## How many African elephants are left?

The most recent IUCN estimates put the total wild population at around **415,000** across both species — down from an estimated 1.3 million in 1979. Savanna elephant declines have averaged around 60% over the last 50 years; forest elephant declines have averaged around 86% over 30 years.

## What should you know about the threats?

- **Ivory poaching.** UNODC's World Wildlife Crime Report describes elephant ivory trafficking as one of the largest and most professionalised wildlife-crime supply chains. Demand markets are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia, with seizure data implicating Vietnam, China and several transit countries.

- **Habitat loss.** Conversion of savanna to farmland and forest to plantations is squeezing both species into smaller, increasingly disconnected areas. Forest elephants in particular are sensitive to road-building and habitat fragmentation.

- **Human-elephant conflict.** Crop-raiding elephants are speared, shot or poisoned. Elephant retaliation against humans causes dozens of deaths in East Africa each year.

- **Snaring.** Wire snares set for bushmeat regularly catch elephants — particularly juveniles — as bycatch. Veterinary darting and snare removal are core anti-snaring fieldwork.

## What is working?

Anti-poaching has materially reduced ivory-driven mortality in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana and Namibia over the last decade, even as overall numbers continued to fall. Community-based conservancies that share tourism income with pastoralist communities have produced measurable reductions in retaliatory killing in northern Kenya in particular.

## How WARN fits in?

Elephants are not yet a stand-alone WARN appeal. Our planned work in Kenya and Tanzania will address one of the major non-poaching causes of elephant injury — wire snares set for bushmeat — and our long-term ambition is to support partner work on the welfare end of the wider East African elephant crisis as our country operations mature.

Sources: IUCN Red List, UNEP-WCMC, CITES, UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report.

## Is it true that we need your support to make this happen?

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## Is it true that two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered)?

Two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered). A fact list is not an IUCN assessment. African bush elephant still needs habitat, enforcement and honest funding — see the full species guide rather than stopping at trivia.

## Is it true that combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979?

Combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979. 3 million in 1979 is one of the details people actually search for about African bush elephant. It holds as a field note from KENYA & TANZANIA; it is not a care sheet and not a substitute for the species guide.

## Is it true that listed on CITES Appendix I and Appendix II depending on population?

Listed on CITES Appendix I and Appendix II depending on population. Listed on CITES Appendix I and Appendix II depending on population is one of the details people actually search for about African bush elephant. It holds as a field note from KENYA & TANZANIA; it is not a care sheet and not a substitute for the species guide.

## Is it true that kenya and Tanzania together hold one of the most significant remaining savanna elephant populations?

Kenya and Tanzania together hold one of the most significant remaining savanna elephant populations. Kenya and Tanzania together hold one of the most significant remaining savanna elephant populations is one of the details people actually search for about African bush elephant. It holds as a field note from KENYA & TANZANIA; it is not a care sheet and not a substitute for the species guide.

## Is it true that snaring is a major non-targeted cause of elephant injury — directly relevant to WARN's planned anti-snaring work?

Snaring is a major non-targeted cause of elephant injury — directly relevant to WARN's planned anti-snaring work. Snaring is a major non-targeted cause of elephant injury — directly relevant to WARN's planned anti-snaring work is one of the details people actually search for about African bush elephant.

## Is it true that ivory poaching. UNODC's World Wildlife Crime Report describes elephant ivory trafficking as one of the largest and most professionalised wildlife-crime supply chains. Demand markets are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia, with seizure data implicating Vietnam, China and several transit countries?

Ivory poaching. UNODC's World Wildlife Crime Report describes elephant ivory trafficking as one of the largest and most professionalised wildlife-crime supply chains. Demand markets are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia, with seizure data implicating Vietnam, China and several transit countries. That scale is ecology, not a pet-shop talking point.

## Is it true that habitat loss. Conversion of savanna to farmland and forest to plantations is squeezing both species into smaller, increasingly disconnected areas. Forest elephants in particular are sensitive to road-building and habitat fragmentation?

Habitat loss. Conversion of savanna to farmland and forest to plantations is squeezing both species into smaller, increasingly disconnected areas. Forest elephants in particular are sensitive to road-building and habitat fragmentation. A fact list is not an IUCN assessment. African bush elephant still needs habitat, enforcement and honest funding — see the full species guide rather than stopping at trivia.

## Is it true that human-elephant conflict. Crop-raiding elephants are speared, shot or poisoned. Elephant retaliation against humans causes dozens of deaths in East Africa each year?

Human-elephant conflict. Crop-raiding elephants are speared, shot or poisoned. Elephant retaliation against humans causes dozens of deaths in East Africa each year. A fact list is not an IUCN assessment. African bush elephant still needs habitat, enforcement and honest funding — see the full species guide rather than stopping at trivia.

## Is it true that snaring. Wire snares set for bushmeat regularly catch elephants — particularly juveniles — as bycatch. Veterinary darting and snare removal are core anti-snaring fieldwork?

Snaring. Wire snares set for bushmeat regularly catch elephants — particularly juveniles — as bycatch. Veterinary darting and snare removal are core anti-snaring fieldwork. Veterinary darting and snare removal are core anti-snaring fieldwork is one of the details people actually search for about African bush elephant.

## What is this briefing not?

This briefing is not a substitute for the full African bush elephant wildlife guide, not a pet-care manual, and not a first-person field dispatch. It is a desk-researched explainer for people who searched a specific question about African bush elephant.

The African Elephant: Two Species, One Crisis sits in the newsroom as a species explainer. It is not a Field notes dispatch from a partner clinic, and it is not a reason to keep African bush elephant. Location context: KENYA & TANZANIA.

## Who should skip this page?

Skip this page if you wanted a complete IUCN-style species profile, veterinary advice, or permission to keep African bush elephant as a pet. You will not find those here. Read the wildlife guide next if you need status, range and sources in one place.

Skip it if you needed veterinary instructions, a travel itinerary, or a fundraising story dressed up as science. The skip is the point: a page that cannot say no is not a guide.

## How does this briefing compare to the full species guide?

This page answers the search in the headline. The wildlife guide answers status, threats, and what is actually known. Use both; do not cite the listicle as if it were the Red List. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).

  Claims this briefing actually stands behind |
 Takeaway
| Two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).
| Combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979.
| Listed on CITES Appendix I and Appendix II depending on population.
| Kenya and Tanzania together hold one of the most significant remaining savanna elephant populations.

## What is the catch with a short wildlife briefing?

The catch with wildlife listicles is that a true fact can still be the wrong takeaway. “Amazing” is not the same as “safe to keep”, and a number without a source is trivia. Every figure on this page should be read against the cited IUCN or zoo pages, not against a screenshot.

Factory “12 facts” pages elsewhere on the web pad the same three sentences. Here each heading is a real question, each answer is meant to stand alone, and the sources at the end are the audit trail. If a number is not on this page or in those sources, we did not invent it.

## What should you do after reading this?

Use this briefing to answer the question in the title, then go to the species guide for status and sources. If you want to help African bush elephant, fund habitat and enforcement — do not buy the animal. 3 million in 1979, driven mainly by ivory poaching and habitat conversion.

If you want to support WARN’s partner work, [donate](/donate/) knowing we are a community interest company, not a registered charity. If you want the animal itself, you have the wrong page.

Read the verdict on the first screen, the skip-if before you share the page, and the sources at the end before you quote a number. That is the whole contract of this briefing.

## What do people ask about this briefing?
### Is this African bush elephant briefing a complete species guide?
No. It is a newsroom explainer for a specific search. Status, range and the full source list live on the wildlife guide where one exists. The briefing is set in KENYA & TANZANIA. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).

### Should you keep a African bush elephant as a pet after reading this?
No. Amazing facts are not a care plan. Wild animals belong in wild habitat; buying one, posing with one, or sharing selling ads all worsen the trade. Location context on this page is KENYA & TANZANIA. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).

### Who should skip this African bush elephant page?
Anyone who needed veterinary advice, a full IUCN profile, or permission to handle the animal. This page will tell you to leave if that is you. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).

### What is the one-line answer on African bush elephant?
Africa has two elephant species — the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana, Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis, Critically Endangered) — together comprising an estimated 415,000 wild individuals, down from an estimated 1.3 million in 1979, driven mainly by ivory poaching and habitat conversion.

### Where is this African bush elephant briefing set?
The location context is KENYA & TANZANIA. That is geography for the story, not a claim that WARN runs a programme in every place named. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered).

### Where does WARN work on African bush elephant?
Only claim a programme where this site already names one. This briefing is desk research about African bush elephant in KENYA & TANZANIA; it does not invent a field team to match the headline. Read the species guide and appeals for funded work.

### Is it true that two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered)?
Two species: African savanna elephant (Endangered) and African forest elephant (Critically Endangered). The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered). Both are in steep decline, driven by ivory poaching and habitat loss.

### Is it true that combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979?
Combined wild population estimated at 415,000, down from 1.3 million in 1979. The IUCN now recognises two African elephant species: the African savanna elephant (Endangered) and the African forest elephant (Critically Endangered). Both are in steep decline, driven by ivory poaching and habitat loss.

Human-readable page: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/newsroom/african-elephant-facts/