Assessing the Economic Damage to African Tourism Affected by the Illegal Killing of Elephants

The conservation of savannah (Loxodonta africana) and forest (Loxodonta cyclotis) elephants in Africa is an urgent worldwide issue, as recent increases in poaching have resulted in population reductions of up to 60% across the continent. Despite an international commercial trade ban, demand for ivory is reducing or eliminating elephants in large swaths of their former range, with recent surveys estimating that tens of thousands of elephants have been poached in Tanzania and Mozambique alone in the last five years.