Super User 11 August 2023

Travel Guide To African Forest Elephants In Democratic Republic Of Congo

African forest elephants are one of the two living African elephant species, smaller than their elusive cousins, the African savannah elephants, and also the smallest of the three living elephant species. They inhabit the dense rainforests of the Congo basin and also in West Africa.

For a long time they were considered a subspecies of the savannah elephants; only recently have they been regarded as a separate species and, given the dramatic decline in their numbers, have been placed on the Red List by the IUCN as "threatened with extinction".

About African Forest Elephants:

Their ears are more oval-shaped and their tusks are straighter and point downward (the tusks of savanna elephants curve outwards). Forest elephants also have a much slower reproductive rate than savanna elephants. Their last strongholds are located in Gabon and the DRC Congo basin, with smaller populations also remaining in other African countries.

Although Congo accounts for only 20% of the remaining habitat for forest elephants in Central Africa, the country also harbors 20% of Africa’s forest elephant population. This places the country in an important position for elephant conservation but also makes it a strategic target for poachers and ivory traders, especially as other elephant populations in the region dwindled.

DR Congo is home to about 90% of the Congo Basin's remaining rainforest. It is home to the largest population of forest elephants alongside Gabon, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. Currently, the population is estimated at 7,800 to 9,600 animals. The elephants are distributed across scattered habitats mainly in the Salonga, Okapi, and Virunga regions. In 2020, a herd of about 500 animals returned there from Uganda. Forest elephants are among the most endangered animals of all. They live exclusively in the rainforests of Central and West Africa.

African forest elephants live in family groups of up to 20 individuals and forage on leaves, grasses, seeds, fruit, and tree bark with this kind of diet, they contribute much to maintaining the composition and structure of the forests they inhabit and always referred to as the 'mega-gardener of the forest'. To supplement their diet with minerals, they gather at mineral-rich waterholes and mineral licks found throughout the forest.

Forest elephants are referred to as ‘ecosystem engineers due to their role in physically transforming the forest as they move through it and feed. They create light gaps by knocking down trees; keep the undergrowth clear by trampling vegetation and speed decomposition by shattering rotting logs. They disperse seeds and fertilize the soil with their dung, compact it with their feet, and cultivate it with their tusks.

By digging for essential minerals elephants alter stream flow, creating wet forest clearings, known locally as "bais". All these activities contribute to the ecological functioning of the forest and are essential for the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. The absence of elephants would bring about severe shifts in the stability of central Africa’s rainforests, affecting countless other species sharing this habitat.

Threats to African Forest Elephants:

Although elephants enjoy the highest protection status in the DRC, they are extremely threatened by poaching, deforestation, and conflicts with humans. Not only is the ivory trade a problem but also elephant meat is still considered an expensive and sought-after delicacy. In Kinshasa alone, around 60,000 tonnes of bush meat are sold every year. Every week, about 10-15 tonnes of it are smuggled to Europe. Thus, the DRC is increasingly becoming a hotspot of the international wildlife trade. It’s estimated that about 80% of all wildlife crime in Africa takes place in the DRC.

African elephants are listed as critically endangered species due to their increased poaching for ivory, and bush meat and their habitat loss to human development. They are beautiful animals to watch.

Arrange with ULTIMATE WILD SAFARIS for their view in the wilderness of DR Congo forests.

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