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| Africa Elephants |
Longevity
Elephants live for an average of 65 years. The mortality rate for elephant calf calves in their first year approaches 30%.
Predators
Lions, hyenas, and crocodiles may prey on jungle elephants. Humans are the most dangerous to elephants.
Disease
One of the most lethal elephant diseases is anthrax. Fever, shivering, ulceration, and swelling are all symptoms of anthrax. This disease is spread via contaminated water or soil.
Diseases that elephants can develop include trunk paralysis and elephant pox.
Mosquitoes can cause intestinal colic, nettle rash, pneumonia, constipation, and even the common cold in elephants.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial illness of the lungs. Humans and elephants can be infected by microscopic particles in the air. Chronic weight loss, nasal discharge, coughing, and decreased appetite are all symptoms of this condition. Elephants self-help in a variety of ways when they are ailing. Natural treatments such as bitter herbs, bark, and alkaline earth may be used in addition to fasting. Mud keeps insects and worms out of wounds.
Elephant populations are threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, and poaching as a result of human activity.
Elephants require a home range of a few hundred to a few thousand square kilometres. Human habitation has greatly hampered elephant migration routes. Elephant populations in Africa are threatened by ivory poaching and habitat deterioration. Poaching is not a serious issue for conservation because Asian elephants have smaller tusks.
Elephant tusks have long been sought for for their ivory tusks. Some African tribes used the water-absorbing qualities of ivory to forecast rain. Billiard balls, piano keys, and bagpipes are examples of illustrative things. The market price for ivory in 1988 was between $100 and $150 per pound. Elephant poaching is now prohibited. Poaching will continue as long as there is an ivory market. Every year, 70,000 African elephants are slaughtered for their ivory. It is estimated that about 80% of this ivory is derived from poached tusks.
Due to indiscriminate poaching, the surviving elephants' offspring now have tusks that are smaller than typical. An African elephant's tusk weighed 9.7 kg in 1982. (21 lb.). In 1988, Tusks weighed 5.9 kg. (13 pound) The average weight in 1990 was 3 kg (6.6 lb.). It was 3.6 kilogrammes in 2004. (8 lb.). Japan, Hong Kong, the United States, and Europe are the top importers of ivory. During times of violence and political turmoil, the elephants' habitat may tragically become a haven for armed opposition groups. This decreases the amount of safe habitat available to elephants and other animals. Several civil wars are funded by poached ivory.
Consequences of Poaching
Because of the societal importance of mother raising, orphaned children face a challenging circumstance. Orphans with little experience are more exposed to predators, injuries, and infections. When orphaned young bulls are not cared for by their mothers, abnormal behaviours can develop. Atypical aggression, deadly assaults, and reproductive inexperience have been documented.
Loss of Habitat
Elephant ranges are gradually encroaching on human settlements in Africa and Asia, resulting in Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC). HEC is a serious hazard to both humans and elephants every year. Rapid human population expansion and urbanisation have fragmented many elephant habitats, resulting in animal concentration. Elephants require a lot of food, therefore scattered habitats might become over-exploited. By interfering with breeding possibilities, population size and genetic diversity are reduced.
Crop Failure
As human and elephant populations merge, elephants are increasingly attacking crops. Crops concentrate food in a small space, which elephants prefer. An elephant herd can have a 24-hour supply of food if they spend seven or eight hours in a cultivated area. Many farmers lose an entire year's worth of produce in a single night of assaults, endangering themselves and their families. In one night, a herd of twenty elephants can damage two hectares (five acres) of crops. Millions of dollars could be lost each year on commercial crops such as oil palm and rubber.
Deforestation
The degradation of forests by elephants has sparked heated discussion. Elephants disembark and force their way through the trees to eat and exercise. Trees are destroyed by entomological pests, fungi, wind, and brushfire. The fundamental cause of forest degradation is not elephant feeding. Other variables, such as a rising water table, may impair the ability of tree roots to absorb water. Drought-induced fire appears to have an effect on tree development as well. It's possible that the difficulties in regenerating trees isn't entirely attributable to elephant consumption. There is disagreement on what causes forest loss, how to repair it, and whether or not it is a natural cycle of elephant vegetation.
Sources of Contaminated Water
Elephant populations in ever-shrinking habitats compete for dwindling resources. Overcrowding has the potential to contaminate water supplies and exacerbate parasitic disease epidemics.
Culling
Culling is the legal slaughter of an animal and is a contentious issue. There are more elephants per acre due to habitat fragmentation, resulting in overexploitation of natural resources. Elephant culling is employed in situations when there aren't enough elephants to go around. Culling and legitimate hunting methods for controlling deer overpopulation have been compared.
Deer, like many other species, are having a more difficult time finding food. These searches frequently take them into cities and on roadways, increasing their chances of encountering humans and/or being involved in vehicle accidents. Legal hunting helps to keep deer populations in check while also reducing hunger and injury.
African elephant populations are classified as endangered on a global scale. The population has overrun the carrying capacity of the ecosystem (the amount of available resources that a habitat has to sustain life). Culling does not reflect the conservation status of a species. A population can be culled in minutes, decreasing shock and alleviating burden on neighbouring herds. Poaching's Consequences
Trophy Hunts for Big Game
Elephants have long been admired by prize hunters for their power and height. A wealthy American or European will spend between $15,000 and $20,000 to shoot an elephant. A game warden typically supervises the hunt, while a technician prepares the legal trophies, which are typically tusks and feet. Residents receive meat. Large game trophy hunts may earn more money than traditional agriculture due to tough agricultural circumstances in numerous African regions.
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