The relative effects of hunting and habitat destruction on elephant population dynamics over time

Abstract

Over the last two hundred years the ecology of Africa has changed substantially. One of the best documented change is the decline of the continental population of the African elephant. Two major factors likely to have contributed to this are: the reductions in the carrying capacity for the species due to habitat change, and the hunting for ivory. The relative importance of habitat loss versus hunting in driving the population decline has been at issue for several years. This paper attempts to tease out the effects of the two factors on the elephant population over the last two centuries, and to discuss the likely effects of each for the future.