50 Stories: Protecting African elephants and rhinos

WWF Canada

On April 29, 2011, WWF celebrates 50 years of environmental conservation. Join us as we highlight 50 stories in 50 days, looking back at what we’ve achieved together and looking forward to another 50 years.
“DOOMED.” That was the front page headline of the UK newspaper the Daily Mirror in 1961, accompanied by a full-page photo of two African rhinos. The article said that rhinos were “doomed to disappear from the face of the earth due to man’s folly, greed, neglect” and encouraged readers to support a new conservation organization: WWF.
We’ve been fighting to protect African rhinos and elephants ever since.

Black rhinocerous and African elephant, Africa (c) naturepl.com/John-Downer/WWF
 
What’s at stake?
 
Once, the forests and savannahs of Africa were home to more than a million rhino. Less than a hundred years ago, as many as 5 million elephants ranged across the continent.
But European game hunters shot them for trophies. Poaching was rife. Elephants were killed for the ivory, rhinos for their horns – prized as dagger handles and for their supposed medicinal properties.
At the same time, humans destroyed large areas of their habitat, bringing communities into conflict with wildlife – particularly elephants, which can pose a threat to people’s homes and crops.
An Africa without elephants or rhinos is hard to imagine. But it’s been perilously close.
 
The story so far
During the 1980s, around 100,000 elephants were being killed each year. The ban on the international ivory trade in 1989 gave some respite from the devastation. Today we work with our partners at TRAFFIC and via the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to combat illegal ivory trade.
In southern Africa, elephant populations are now doing well, though in western and central Africa they remain especially vulnerable. Between 470,000 and 690,000 African elephants survive in 37 countries.
Rhinos are also recovering in many landscapes, thanks to our anti-poaching projects and work with communities who we help benefit from conservation schemes. When we launched our African Rhino Programme in 1997, there were 8,466 white rhinos and 2,599 critically endangered black rhinos remaining in the wild. Today, there are around 17,400 white rhinos and 4,200 black rhinos.
Did you know?
Elephants are either left or right-tusked. The one they use more is usually smaller because of wear and tear.
 
Facts and stats
470,000 – 690,000 – African elephants that survive in 37 countries
21,660 – white and black rhinos in Africa today, thanks to the conservation work we’ve supported
50 – years that we’ve been fighting for African elephants and rhinos
What next?
There’s real hope for the future of these animals. But the threats haven’t gone away.
A recent upsurge in poaching in South Africa threatens to undo our success in helping rhinos to recover. It’s been driven by a growing demand from wealthy Asian consumers, particularly in Vietnam, for medicines containing rhino horn. Along with TRAFFIC, we’re responding by:

  • providing state-of-the-art equipment for managers of protected areas
  • working with the South African and Vietnamese governments to clamp down on illegal poaching and trade, and reduce consumer demand
  • educating and engaging the public.

 
What you can do
 
Find out more about our work with African elephants.
 
Learn more about our work with African rhinos.
 
Be part of the celebration!