Description:
The overall sub-regional distribution of the African elephant indicates that approximately half of the total elephant population is found in Southern Africa, while less than 30 per cent are found in Eastern Africa. West Africa is home to the smallest number of elephants, only two per cent of the total number of elephants on the continent. The remaining 20 per cent of African elephants are found in Central Africa, although elephant numbers from this region are particularly fraught with uncertainty (estimates based on Blanc et al. 2007). As with the population numbers, estimates on the sub-regional distribution of elephants are based on conjecture and assumptions. However, these estimates give an overview of the general distribution of elephants across the continent.