African Forest Elephant

 Leighanna Weems                                                                                                                         Weems 1

Professor Foster 

ENG 111 2WF 

6 April 2023  

African Forest Elephant 

           African Forest elephants populate the rainforests of West and Central Africa, often in herds of 20 or more. They eat leaves, grasses, and seeds, which allows them to play an important role in the ecosystem. Without the African Forest Elephant, plant diversity would drastically decrease. Due to the nature of their environment, many plant seeds can only germinate in an elephant's digestive tract. This is highly concerning, considering African Forest Elephants are on the critically endangered list. If the elephants go extinct, so do many of Africa's native plant life.

           The biggest threats to African Forest Elephants are poaching and deforestation. Unfortunately, many hunters kill the elephants to harvest their tusks and sell them in exchange for money or food. In an article published by World Wildlife, poaching contributed to "populations decline by 62% between 2002 and 2011" (1).  World Wildlife is making an effort to promote the hunting of "less vulnerable species in buffer zones and community hunting reserves." (1) By supporting these efforts, we can save the African Forest Elephants from extinction. 

A herd of African Forest elephants 

Weems 2 

Work Cited 

(1) “African Forest Elephant.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/african-forest-elephant. 

(Image) “African Forest Elephant.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/african-forest-elephant.