How is elephant useful to us

Elephants are good swimmers despite their size, and use their trunks as snorkels. They love water and bathe frequently. Thousands of Asian elephants are domesticated, despite their endangered status in the wild.

They have been used by humans for centuries as religious symbols, for transport, as working animals, and even as fighting platforms in warfare.

The Asian elephant is vital for forestry work and is used to transport logs and fell trees. In India they are used for patrolling areas to protect other species from poaching, especially during the monsoon season when areas would otherwise be inaccessible. Hindus value the elephant very highly and it is important for a number of religious ceremonies. Captive elephants in distress have been known to weep, just like humans, though generally captive elephants are well treated by their owners because they are so highly prized.

According to the IUCN, the number of African forest elephants fell by more than 86 percent over 31 years, while the population of African savanna elephants decreased by 60 percent in 50 years. One of the biggest drivers of decline of the forest elephant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, is years of conflict.

As a result, the wildlife inventories made in Lomako in and were unable to estimate their absolute densities. An inventory is underway, and we will see if it will be possible to estimate their density following the increase in direct observations of individuals direct encounters and by camera traps and their indices dung and footprints. We do not yet record any incidences of their poaching because of the surveillance that is being done in their area of concentration.

In the future, AWF will need to continue to protect and conserve their habitats. AWF is collaborating with communities and government authorities to create or expand wildlife habitats. This will help to reduce human-wildlife conflict as well as give elephant populations more room for growth. In addition, we are helping to fight illegal wildlife trade at source and destinations. In DRC and Cameroon, we work with government-employed rangers to monitor wildlife populations and train and equip them to carry out security patrols to fight poaching.

We are also working with communities to set up alternative sustainable livelihoods to prevent the over-exploitation of natural resources. With funding from development partners such as the European Union, U. Agency for International Development, and Arcus Foundation, AWF is supporting communities in activities climate-smart agriculture, value addition of non-timber forest products and sustainable businesses.

In destination countries in Asia, we are running campaigns to ban ivory trade and sensitize people about the importance of keeping elephants alive. In addition, we raise awareness about the ineffectiveness of elephant tusks in traditional medicine. Elephant tusks are made of dentin just like human teeth, and they do not have any curative properties. Conservation success looks like stable or increasing elephant populations with intact habitats.

Surveys suggest there are only about , African elephants left in the wild, down from over one million a generation ago. Each year, tens of thousands of elephants are killed by ivory-seeking poachers and other forms of conflict. On top of being amazing creatures, elephants actually make life better for all of us, sometimes in surprising ways. Here, Human Nature explores four ways elephants benefit your life. Studies have shown that elephants help protect forest health in central Africa by distributing the seeds of trees.

Because they roam over such great distances, elephants play a key role in spreading tree seedlings far and wide. Scientists have documented lower tree diversity in forests that have lost elephants, meaning a less healthy and resilient forest.

Keeping forests healthy ensures trees will continue to store carbon in their trunks, roots and soils , which in turn helps reduce the effects of climate change. Poaching and wildlife trafficking undermine the safety of local villages by causing violence between hunters and communities.

But at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, rangers are trained and credentialed as police reservists, who respond to both wildlife and non-wildlife crimes in the area.

Conservation International has helped to establish ranger patrols in the nearby Northern Rangelands Trust to defend the community and its wildlife from invading poachers. Sanjayan, this work is already making local allies by focusing on security and well-being. Elephants have also been shown to be an effective focal species for conservation planning, as their habitat is highly correlated to other large mammals and species of conservation interest. Elephants are found in a wide variety of ecosystems, including savannas, grasslands and forests, but also deserts, swamps and mountains.