Elephant Numbers Dwindle: How Many Are Left in the World?

The International Union of Conservation of Nature is a group that is working to conserve nature and use natural resources wisely. They maintain a comprehensive list of animals that are endangered called the Red List of Threatened Species. They assess animals and plants to see where they land on the scale from “Least Concerned” to “Extinct”. This list not only identifies the species that are most in danger of becoming extinct but also advises on what needs to be done to prevent further decline.

Let’s take a look at how elephants rank on the list and how many elephants are truly left in the world today.

How Many Elephants Are Left in the World?

The short answer is that there are around 463,571 elephants in the world. While that number looks precise, there are many considerations to take into account, and there are vast differences between the populations of African and Asian elephants.

Keep in mind that while there may be slightly fewer than half a million elephants in the world today, this total is down dramatically from historical levels. In fact, it’s estimated that 10 million elephants may have lived on the African continent in the 1930s.

Go back even further to the 1500s and the population of African elephants may have reached as high as 26 million! Likewise, the Asian elephant now occupies less than 15% of its historical range and is incredibly fragmented. It is likely that elephant populations across the world are down 95 to 99% from their historic peaks experienced just 500 years ago.

How Many African Elephants Are Left in the World?

As we noted above, there were once up to 26 million elephants across Africa. So the question is: how many African elephants are alive today? The most recent estimates point to 415,428 African elephants remaining, but that’s across two separate species on the continent. Let’s examine each individually.

African Bush Elephant Population

These elephants are listed as Endangered with a population trend that is decreasing. The latest research count was done in 2016; the African Elephant Status Report estimated 415,428 elephants living in Africa. This is a combined number of African bush and African forest elephants. The biggest threat to them both is poaching for their ivory or tusks. The ivory is prized for jewelry, piano keys, billiard balls, flatware handles, and much more.

African Forest Elephant Population

As mentioned above, the count of both African elephant species is combined for a count of 415,428. It is difficult to know for sure how many of the forest elephants are left. The savanna elephants are easier to document because they live out in the open on the grasslands, whereas forest elephants hide in the dense rainforests.

Asian Elephant Populations

Asian elephants are listed as Endangered with a population trend that is decreasing. The latest count of Asian elephants was in 2018, with an estimate of 48,323–51,680. Due to the fact that some Asian elephants live in dense rainforests, it is more difficult to obtain an accurate count.

The biggest threats to these elephants are habitat loss, human conflict, poaching, and illegal trade. The skin is being used to make jewelry that is said to have good luck. The conflict between humans and elephants is also a major threat to Asian elephants. The more humans encroach on their habitats, the more incidents of confrontation occur.

What Can Be Done to Help Elephants?

Two conservation acts are in place to help maintain elephant populations. The African Elephant Conservation Act focuses on enforcing laws against ivory imports and the Asian Elephant Conservation Act gives money to conservation initiatives in Asian countries. Two things you can do to help elephants are to never buy anything made from ivory and to educate others about elephants and their important role in our ecosystem!