State of the North American African elephant population and projections for the future

Abstract

The African elephant has historically received less attention in the captive community than the Asian elephant. One manifestation of this lack of attention is that only 25 African elephant calves had been born in captivity in North America as of 1 January 1999. With the recent attention to both elephant species, it is imperative to evaluate the African elephant’s potential to maintain a self-sustaining population in North America. Review of the raw data indicates that African elephants have reproduced poorly and experienced low juvenile survival in North America. However, using realistic life table models,the future of the North American African elephant population can be predicted. The current population is relatively young compared to the captive Asian elephant population and has a much greater potential to become self-sustaining with increased focus and efforts toward reproduction. Unlike the Asian elephant population, the African elephant population may be able to become self-sustaining without further importation, if reproduction and juvenile survivorship increase significantly in the next 10 years. Zoo Biol 19:311–320, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.