India, March 12 -- Habitat fragmentation, forest degradation, illegal hunting, genetic isolation and human-elephant conflict means the future of these elephants is precarious

Queen Omoregie, Natural Resources Conservationist, contributed to this article

Nigeria is one of 37 African countries where elephants are found in the wild. Savannah elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) can be found in the north and forest elephants ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) in the south.

It's not clear how many elephants there are in Nigeria. Eighteen years ago, the African Elephant Study Report estimated that there were just 94 elephants left in the country. In 2021, it was estimated that there could be about 400 elephants in areas not systematically surveyed.

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