1989 - Only 600,000 elephants remain. The African elephant population has been cut by more than half in 10 years. Today the total stands at between 38,534 and 52,566 wild elephants and 14,535 and 15,300 domesticated elephants in Asia, … Yet while elephants have lived alongside humans for so long, there is still much we don’t know about them. One hundred years ago, there were about ten million African elephants and 100,000 Asian elephants (the two primary species), reports World Wildlife Magazine. As a handful of 1939 experiments showed, elephants aren’t naturally afraid of mice, as the stereotype suggests. The elephants were pursued by police, sheriff’s officers, firefighters, and circus workers. In 2009 Save the Elephants recorded a spike in poaching rates in Samburu and published a warning in the journal Nature that East Africa’s protected areas were now in … Elephants breed slowly, and take many years to reach maturity. How many elephants were ill? Theres about 600 000 African elephants, and between 30 000 and 50 000 Asian elephants. Since 1979, African elephants have lost over 50% of their range and this, along with massive poaching for ivory and trophies over the decades, has seen the population drop significantly. elephants in general aren’t afraid of mice—but circus elephants often were. But there … As a handful of 1939 experiments showed, elephants aren’t naturally afraid of mice, as the stereotype suggests. Historically, elephants have never bred well in captivity and, consequently, a continuous supply of elephants captured from the wild was needed to maintain or increase the captive stocks. As Central Africa’s elephant numbers plummeted the poaching pressure began to move to the savannahs of East Africa. Back in the early part of the 20th century, there may have been as many as 3-5 million African elephants. From Frequently asked questions about elephants: Are elephants endangered species? The circus had leased them from exhibitor Doug Terranova. elephants in general aren’t afraid of mice—but circus elephants often were. To lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn. As Central Africa’s elephant numbers plummeted the poaching pressure began to move to the savannahs of East Africa. This video excerpt from that film explores the history of the ivory trade and the resulting devastation of Africa’s elephant population—from 26 million elephants in 1800 to fewer than one million today. Firstly, Asian elephants have more hair, they have a hump, their trunks have three fingers, and African elephants have two. 1989 - CITES agrees to list the African elephant on Appendix I, as a result a ban on the international sale of ivory goes into effect in early 1990. In the 1980s, it was difficult to carry out systematic surveys in several East African range countries due to civil wars. Tanzania, however, has lost 53% of its elephants to poaching in six years (109,000 to 51,000). There are many differences between African and Asian elephants. At the time, 1.34 million elephants were estimated to range over 7,300,000 km 2 (2,800,000 sq mi). Learn more. I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to elephants. The loss of elephants gravely affects many species that depend on elephant-maintained ecosystems and causes major habitat chaos and a weakening to the structure and diversity of nature itself. Today their numbers have decreased to an estimated 3,000 domestic and 2,000 in the wild. The clip examines factors that fueled the “ivory frenzy” of the early … No accurate figures are available for 100 years ago, but in Thailand alone it is estimated that there were over 100,000 elephants so extrapolating by taking Thailand’s current percentage of the population we can estimate that in 1900 there were as many as a million elephants across Asia.