Illegal poaching and ivory trade is endangering the population of African forest elephants, according to a new study from a team of international researchers.
Sixty-two percent of forest elephants have been killed for their ivory, according to the study that was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
"The analysis confirms what conservationists have feared: the rapid trend towards extinction-potentially within the next decade-of the forest elephant," said Samantha Strindberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the study's lead author.
Researchers from the study analyzed data compiled from surveys and fieldwork and included contributions from over 60 scientists between 2002 and 2011 across the span of five African countries, including Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
"Historically, elephants ranged right across the forests of this vast region of over 2 million square kilometers (more than 772,000 square miles), but now cower in just a quarter of that area," said John Hart of the Lukuru Foundation and the study's co-author.
"Although the forest cover remains, it is empty of elephants, demonstrating that this is not a habitat degradations issue. This is almost entirely due to poaching."
The study revealed that regions in these countries with the highest population, high amounts of hunting and poor governance translated into an increased loss of forest elephants.
The findings showed that the estimated one-third of the land that elephants used to live in 10 years ago is now too dangerous to inhabit.
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