Working Together to Save African Elephants

 As heard on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," Dr. Andrea Turkalo of the Wildlife Conservation Society has been working to save forest elephants in Central Africa for the past decade. Her observations of more than 2000 individual elephants in the Central African Republic's Dzanga Sangha National Park have shed new light on the social behavior of this rain forest mammal, now considered a species separate from the African savanna elephant.

Turkalo's research is one of several WCS projects focusing on elephants across Africa. In eastern Africa, WCS scientists Charles and Lara Foley study the savanna elephants of Tanzania's Tarangire National Park, where the poaching of herd matriarchs and the knowledge they carry of distant food and water sources has been found to impact the ability of elephant families to survive droughts. WCS has also developed a host of methods to reduce elephant-human conflicts with crop-raiding elephants. WCS researchers John Hart and Steve Blake are working to reduce the levels of elephant poaching across Africa through a program called Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE).  This program helps the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) maintain an international ban on the sale of ivory.

WCS will continue to study and protect Africa's majestic elephant herds into the next century, but these efforts will only succeed with the support of individuals who care about wildlife. Click here to learn how you can help save the world's largest land animal.

How WCS is Saving Elephants Worldwide
Make a Donation to Save African Elephants

For Media Contact Information, Please Click Here.