African elephant populations stabilise in southern heartlands

African elephant populations have stabilised in their southern heartlands after huge losses over the last century, according to the most comprehensive analysis of growth rates to date. The latest analysis also provides the strongest data so far showing that protected areas that are connected to other places are far better than isolated “fortress” parks at maintaining stable populations, by allowing the elephants to migrate back and forth between areas as they did naturally in the past. When numbers rise in highly protected core areas, corridors into less protected buffer areas allow the animals to disperse. They may also migrate if poaching increases or drought strikes. If numbers later fall in the core areas, or conditions improve, elephants can flow back again. However, many more people live in the buffer areas and the scientists said careful planning was crucial to minimise conflicts with the elephants, which can kill people and destroy crops. In contrast to the connected areas, the scientists found that isolated parks, which keep animals in and people out, can lead to unsustainable population booms, and in turn sometimes mass deaths or culling.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/05/african-elephant-populations-stabilise-in-southern-heartlands

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