The Silent Crisis series part 1: Saving Earth's gentle giants from extinction

                              

"The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?" ~Sir David Attenborough

"Elephants are known as gentle giants that roam the Earth. Today, they are facing a major crisis—the crisis of extinction. A simple Google search reveals the devastating reality: savanna elephant populations have fallen by around 70 percent on average at surveyed sites, while forest elephant populations have plummeted by about 90 percent. These statistics are especially alarming given that, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the entire African elephant population could disappear by 2040 if current trends continue.

The complex and unethical choices we humans made resulted in this sudden decline of elephants. This decline can become devastating especially for the ecosystem as elephants play a crucial part in maintaining the forests and the savannah. 

Elephants are vital as they help maintain and build the ecosystem in several ways, namely habitat creation and seed dispersal. 

Habitat creation

Undeniably, nothing can stand in the way of these giant creatures. Elephants help create new habitats by trampling over taller vegetation, allowing other lower-lying plants to grow. This allows the habitat to have a more diverse variety of plants which helps different animal species thrive. Since different animals rely on different types of plants for food and shelter, elephants help promote new niche ecosystems for animals to flourish. 

Fun fact 1: Did you know that you can distinguish between Asian and African based on their ears? African elephants have large ears that resemble the shape of the African continent Whereas the Asian elephant has a smaller and rounder ear. 

seed dispersal 

Being herbivores in nature, elephants consume substantial quantities of vegetation daily—approximately 150-300 kg for adult African elephants—including a diverse array of fruits, foliage, and other plant materials. As such, during digestion, much of the seeds get transported through the digestive tract and are execreted within the fecal matter. A study cited by Frontiers, which simulated seed dispersal by forest elephants using gut passage data from 96 wild elephants, found that elephants dispersed 86% of seeds farther than 1 km on average. This long-distance seed dispersal helps create and maintain newer and healthier ecosystems and enables different groups of animals to thrive in previously unoccupied habitats.

Fun fact 2: Did you know that elephants have around 150,000 muscle units in their trunks? They have more muscle in ther trunks than in an entire human body! While we humans sometimes struggle with picking up a coin from a flat surface, elephants' magnificent trunks can pluck even a single blade of grass!

Elephants play a crucial and integal part in our ecosystem. As ecological engineers, they help not only reshape landscape through their daily activities but they also help maintain the healthy ecosystems needed for animals to thrive. Today, the elephant population is dwindling as they are faced with severe threats namely -- poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict -- which will be further explored in part 2 of this series. Conservation efforts must be prioritized. Only by preserving these magnificent animals will we then be able to safeguard our ecosystem.