African bush elephants

Threats

Poaching for ivory is the largest threat against elephants. Thousands are killed every year. At this rate, the African elephant is at risk of becoming endangered. Poaching is not the only danger African elephants face. Loss of habitat, human-wildlife conflict, and climate change are also threatening their survival.

Why is ivory so valuable?: Ivory has been sought after to create everything from art pieces to teeth to piano keys. Since it is rare and exotic, people have and continue to pay a high price for the material, which has contributed elephant poaching. Fortunately, new regulations have made the ivory trade illegal in the United States. 

Our Work

IFAW has created a network of rangers, community members, and professionals around the world to stop poaching at every stage and protect elephants. In Kenya, we connect national park rangers, local Maasai community members, and law enforcement officers to create a better system for detecting wildlife crime. Through the sharing of information and use of high-tech data collection, our teams are able to detect crime before it happens and prevent poaching events.  

In 2019, IFAW formed Team Lioness – an all-women ranger unit made up of eight Maasai women. Based on the border of Tanzania and Kenya, team Lioness protects the iconic animals of the Olgulului/Ololarashi Group Ranch (OOGR)  that  surrounds Kenya’s Amboseli National Park and is part of the Amboseli Tsavo Kilimanjaro landscape that IFAW has been supporting the community to conserve. The Lionesses who are part of a 76 member ranger unit protect elephant populations and other wildlife from poachers and work closely with community members to implement solutions that lessen human-wildlife conflict.  

Our rescue, rehabilitation, and release work also allows us to better protect elephants and support wild populations. When orphaned calves can’t be reunited with their mothers or herds, our team steps in and provides them with a specialized rehabilitation process that allows them to one day return to the wild. In Zambia, we partner with Game Rangers International (GRI) to run the Elephant Orphanage Project and give rescued elephants a second chance. We also partner with Wild Is Life to support the Zimbabwe Elephant Nursery (ZEN) and help transform Panda Masuie Forest Reserve into a thriving ecosystem.