There are two major types of elephants in the world namely African and Asian. Both of these elephant are endangered species as the ivory hunters are posing some serious threats to the existence of these mammal species. Indian elephants are endangered species as only 50,000 elephants are alive in China, Sri Lanka, India, Borneo, Sumatra and Andaman Island while 15,000 in captivity. African elephants are also prone to the some serious threats but they are not included in the ICUN list of endangered species.
Threats to Elephants: There are different types of human factors which are resposible for the decrease in population of the elephant species specially the Indian elephants. Here are elephants endangered facts;
1. Poaching of elephants for ivory specially the African elephants. Poaching of Indian elephants is not as common as of African elephants. Ivory is used for making different products in the world therefore hunters kill elephants to exploit this precious thing.
2. Expanding population require more agricultural land to meet the food needs of the human beings. For this end local governments are wiping out the forests to make them cultivable for agricultural use. This is a cause of vanishing out the natural habitats of elephants and other endangered species.
3. Also the rapid changing atmosphere is creating some problems for the survival of these endangered species.
As the In the past there were many species of elephants, which lived over most of the world apart form Australia. Some were much bigger than the elephants of today, but they are now extinct. As a result of hunting for ivory and poaching and taking over the elephants’ environment, there are far fewer elephant today than there were even 20 years age. Many people feel that it is not possible for such large and demanding animals to survive in a world of expanding human populations.
African Elephant Photo