Ethiopian Elephant Population Under Threat; Research Shows How Illegal Housings Put the Largest Land Animals at Risk

Researchers from Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment and Born Free recently discovered that in the 11 years to 2017, the number of illegal houses in the sanctuary rose from 18,000 to more than 50,000.

A Phys.org report said, according to satellite assessment of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia by the Oxford scientists and the foundation, tens of thousands of illegal settlements posture an actual threat to the nonstop existence of a vanishing elephant population.

Tens of thousands of illegal human settlements pose a real threat to the continued existence of an endangered elephant population, according to satellite analysis of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia by University of Oxford researchers and the Born Free Foundation.

Of the thousands of illegal houses, about 32,000 settlements are in the site in which elephants range. The researchers said unless the "integrity of the sanctuary" can be restored, and security and poverty issues come to a resolution, the elephants of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary will come to extinction within a short period.

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(Photo : Tumwinekenneth on Wikimedia Commons)
Researchers said unless the ‘integrity of the sanctuary’ can be restored, and security and poverty issues come to a resolution, the elephants of the Babile Elephant Sanctuary will come to extinction within a short period.

A Home to African Savannah Elephants

The sanctuary is considered a home to the "northeasternmost population" of African Savannah Elephants of Africa, one of the six populations identified in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, the human population of the study now stands at over 110 million and there is a long-lasting shortage of land, as well as high demand for natural resources.

Past studies have shown that in Ethiopia, the effectiveness, as well as integrity of many protected sites are being compromised by rising human-associated pressures, inadequate support from the government, and civil conflict.

According to postgraduate researcher Emily Neil, from the School of Geography and Environment of Oxford, the situation in Babile Elephant Sanctuary "is critical."

To date, there are only approximately 250 elephants left. Without the quick resolution of the many human problems that put pressure on the elephants, it is quite a challenge to predict a future in which this population of elephants survives.

Human Pressure on Elephant Population

In their study, Illegal settlement in the Babile Elephant Sanctuary is threatening the resident elephant population, published in Oryx, The International Journal of Conservation, the researchers said human pressure on the population of elephants is coming from different directions.

From 2015 until 2019, the Born Free Foundation carried out a field project in the sanctuary, rallying Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority rangers to perform daily monitoring of the population of the elephants.

Such an initiative helped researchers to understand better the range of elephants and established that on top of poaching, the conflict between elephants and humans is a substantial cause of mortality in elephants.

As indicated in the similar Bioengineer.org report, within a background of a growing rural human population reliant on scarce natural resources, long-lasting civil instability, poverty, and food insecurity, the research team said they believe that the poverty, environmental, as well as security challenges in the sanctuary, needs to be addressed jointly.

The researchers also found in their study that there has been an associated expansion of conversion and cultivation of forests in the areas.

Related information about elephants is shown on Vox's YouTube video bellow:

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