A dedicated status report offers the most reliable picture yet of African forest elephant numbers, using DNA methods to cut uncertainty and guide targeted protection. 

Following the 2021 recognition of forest and savanna elephants as distinct species by IUCN, a standalone assessment for the two species was needed to set a reliable baseline of forest elephants and inform policy at national, continental, and global level. The IUCN SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) has now released the first standalone assessment for the forest elephants. Wyss Academy contributes to this work through leadership in AfESG—our East Africa Hub Director, Dr. Benson Okita-Ouma, a co-author of the report, serves as Co-Chair—helping guide science, and practical recommendations across the group’s task forces and working groups.  

The report estimates 135,690 African forest elephants in surveyed areas (95% CI: 99,343–172,297), with a further 7,728–10,990 where systematic surveys are pending. The apparent rise over earlier figures reflects improved DNA-based survey coverage, not necessarily population growth. Central Africa remains the stronghold, and while poaching pressures have eased in parts of the range since 2018–2019, habitat degradation and fragmentation continue to be a threat to the species' survival.  

In practice, better data enable more precise protection—strengthening anti-poaching where needed, planning for habitat connectivity, and focusing limited resources where they have greatest effect. 

As a committed partner, the Wyss Academy for Nature will continue collaborating with AfESG and its data review working group to help scale co-designed, tested solutions that support people–nature coexistence, restore degraded forests and wildlife habitats, and reconnect landscapes essential for elephant movements.