FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

As Elephant Populations Drop, We Learn Even Their Footsteps Serve a Purpose

Some sobering figures cast new discoveries in a different light.
Image: Wikipedia

A slate of new studies this week reveal two realities about elephants: they're great at protecting tiny critters in their environment, and humans are terrible at protecting elephants.

On Wednesday, data from two major surveys of African elephant populations uncovered rapidly declining numbers. One, a massive census of 18 African countries that was conducted by 90 scientists and dubbed the "Great Elephant Census," found that there are only 352,271 savannah elephants left on 93 percent of the elephant habitat. Researchers found that, after rebounding a bit in the 90s, African elephant populations are now declining at a rate of 8 percent every year, mostly due to poaching.

Advertisement

"If populations continue to decline at the 8 percent rate we estimated for 2010–2014, Great Elephant Census survey areas will lose half of their savannah elephants every nine years, and [local extinction] of some populations is possible," the researchers wrote in a paper on their findings, published in PeerJ.

This survey did not include forest-dwelling African elephants (which many experts believe are a distinct species), but another study published this week did. Unfortunately, the news was not any better.

Read More: How Anti-Terrorism Tactics Are Being Used to Fight Elephant Poaching

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, found that between 2002 and 2011, the forest elephant population decreased by 62 percent while simultaneously losing 30 percent of their range. What's even more troubling is that forest elephants were found to be less able to sustain poaching and habitat loss compared to their savannah-dwelling cousins because they reproduce less quickly. Female forest elephants don't have their first baby until they're over 20, on average, and it would take 60 years for the population to double itself under current conditions. This is triple the amount of time it would take savannah elephants to double in size, the researchers found.

"With the continued poaching pressure in these populations and the extended time to recover (based on simple demographic projections using the parameters presented here), the conditions of forest elephants are more precarious than previously thought," the study authors wrote.

These big, flat feet create some nice homes for tiny creatures. Image: WikiPedia

All of this grim news comes alongside some fascinating findings about the roles elephants—or more specifically, elephant feet—play in their local ecosystems. A study published in the African Journal of Zoology details how the footprints elephants leave behind can fill with water, creating natural puddles that team with life. Researchers identified more than 60 species of aquatic invertebrates that colonize these puddles, from tiny mites to tadpoles. During the dry season, these footprint puddles represent "the majority of stagnant ponds," the researchers wrote, and serve as a "stepping stone to dispersal," allowing these organisms to literally follow in the footsteps of ellies, spreading out to new territory.

It's just one of the many ways elephants support their local ecosystems, and another example of the impact their loss would have. In a few weeks, the global conservation community will discuss an eleventh-hour plan to keep elephants from disappearing at the triennial Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). These studies are a reminder of what that endeavor is worthwhile.