Areas at severe risk are identified

In a new article published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists have identified the areas that are most at risk for conflicts between humans and elephants and lions in Africa. They also estimated the associated return on investment of building and maintaining high-quality fences, which are used to reduce conflict between humans and wildlife.

Associate Professor Enrico Di Minin, who is the lead author of this article and leads the Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science at the University of Helsinki, highlights that human pressure on elephants and lions is extremely high.

"We found that 82% of sites containing lions and elephants in Africa are adjacent to areas with considerable human pressure," says Di Minin.

"Areas at severe risk of conflict (defined as areas with high densities of humans, crops, and cattle) comprise 9% of the perimeter of these species' ranges and are found in 18 countries hosting, respectively, ~ 74% and 41% of African lion and elephant populations," he continues.

African forest and savanna elephants have recently been classified as Critically Endangered and Endangered in the IUCN Red List of species, while African lions are classified as Vulnerable. Human activities pose the greatest threats to these species, particularly retaliatory killings of lions in response to livestock losses and of elephants in response to crop damage. Elephants and lions also kill dozens to hundreds of people each year.