And Then There Were Two

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have opted to consider African elephant, as two species on their 'red list' of endangered animals (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/25/african-elephants-now-red-list-two-species-both-nearer-extinction). It is now believed the Forest and Savannah elephants (they are genetically distinct) diverged from eachother some 5-6 million years ago. This is about the same time, humans diverged from Chimpanzees. The IUCN regard both species of elephant as being 'critical', in terms of their danger of extinction. The Forest elephant has declined 86%, in just over 30 years. Savannah elephant numbers fell by 60% in the same period. Poaching (for ivory) and habitat loss are the two major causes of elephant losses. Habitat loss is, however, likely to be more intense, in the case of Forest elephants. Forest habitat destruction probably accounts for their greater decline in the numbers and worse survival chances.