Protection Plan for Endangered Tanzania's Savanna Elephants Population

Protection Plan for Endangered Tanzania's Savanna Elephants Population
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Due Date Protection Plan for Endangered Tanzania's Savanna Elephants Population A recent update on the IUCN List of Threatened Species includes the African savanna elephant or Loxodonta africana. The update comes following a significant decrease in the number of African elephants in the past two decades. Over the past 50 years, the number of African savanna elephants has decreased by 60% for several reasons (IUCN, 2021). Tanzania, a country in East Africa, has felt the impact of the decline in elephants like any other country south of the Sahara. Several conservation groups, including TRAFFIC, estimate that poaching reached an industrial scale between 2009 and 2014, leading to a 60% decline in the elephant population (Taylor, 2021). The classification of the African savanna elephant as an endangered species also calls for remedies that will save the elephant population in the vast East African state. Elephants’ Biome             There are several types of biomes, including aquatic, grassland, forest, tundra, and desert (WWF, 2021). In Africa, there are two types of elephants based on the forest and grassland biomes. Most African elephants live in the savanna, which is a subcategory of the grassland biome. Savannas cover almost half of the African continent (Cuni-Sanchez et al., 2016). The Serengeti plains of Tanzania are probably the best-known African savanna and host many savanna elephants. Savanna elephants are those that prefer extensive grasslands and scattered trees. On the other hand, forest elephants are mainly found in West African forests. The recent update by IUCN places both species of elephants in the endangered species category. While the aquatic biome plays a crucial role in providing water for elephants, it is not conducive for elephants to live in. Further, the tundra and desert biomes do not have sufficient resources (food and water) to support a population of elephants. Threats to Elephants in Africa             In Tanzania and Africa, the greatest threat to elephants is poaching (Allen, 2016). The factors that influence poaching can be classified into country factors and international factors. According to Allen's report, demand for ivory in Asian markets, including China and Vietnam, is crucial to poaching. It provides a lucrative avenue through which poachers can fund their activities and gain from them. The international demand is an example of international factors that fuel poaching. Country factors include border vulnerability, anti-poaching capabilities, corruption, politics, and economics (Lavadinović, Islas, Chatakonda, Marković, & Mbiba, 2021). These factors are interrelated and intertwined. For instance, politics plays a crucial role in allocating resources for the protection of elephants, keeps the economy steady, thus leading to professionally trained anti-poaching units, controls corruption, and responds to issues of poverty. A recent study by Hauenstein et al. (2019) established a positive correlation between elephant poaching rates and poverty, corruption, and global ivory prices.             Other threats to elephants in Tanzania include toxins, loss of habitat, and conflicts with humans. The increasing population is increasingly seeking settlement spaces and resources like timber. As a result, the space in which elephants have historically roamed is reducing. Further, as humans get closer to the elephants, conflicts with the animals are on the increase. In Kenya, a developing East African country, ninety people were killed by wild animals in 2020 alone (Al_Jazeera, 2020). As Allen (2016) indicated, 16% of elephants surveyed were found outside protected areas, implying they have a higher probability of interacting with human settlements. In turn, humans have retaliated, killing several elephants to protect crops and property while blaming government agencies for not offering protection. In 2020, reports from Botswana indicated that over 330 elephants died after ingesting Cyanobacteria, a toxic bacterium (BBC, 2020). While these cases' magnitude does not match poaching, they are also crucial contributors to the elephant population. Impact of Biodiversity on the Number of Elephants             According to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF, 2020), African elephants play a crucial role in balancing the natural ecosystem. They trample dense grasslands and forests, making room for the co-existence of small species. Through digging, they create water holes from where other animals can get water. They travel over long distances dispersing seeds and, therefore, generate new vegetation. The threat to biodiversity by human activities is also a threat to the elephant populations. Elephants are losing their space as the human population increases. The human interference of biodiversity, therefore, reduced the number of elephants. Population Growth Models             According to Spooner (Spooner, 2021, p. 23), exponential and logistic growth models are used by environmental scientists in describing the growth of population over time. Carrying capacity and limiting resources are the core concepts utilized in both models. In the exponential growth model, pop...