Editing Elephant (section)

===Threats===
{{See also|Elephant ivory|Elephant meat}}
[[File:Ivory trade.jpg|thumb|upright|Men with elephant tusks at [[Dar es Salaam]], Tanzania, {{Circa|1900}}]]
The [[poaching]] of elephants for their ivory, meat and hides has been one of the major threats to their existence.<ref name=IUCN2 /> Historically, numerous cultures made ornaments and other works of art from elephant ivory, and its use was comparable to that of gold.<ref name=Shoshani202>Martin, pp. 202–07</ref> The ivory trade contributed to the fall of the African elephant population in the late 20th century.<ref name=IUCN /> This prompted international bans on ivory imports, starting with the United States in June 1989, and followed by bans in other North American countries, western European countries, and Japan.<ref name=Shoshani202 /> Around the same time, Kenya destroyed all its ivory stocks.<ref name="ivory">{{cite magazine|author=Christy, B.|date=October 2012|title=Ivory Worship|magazine=National Geographic|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text|access-date=17 October 2012|archive-date=26 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926142015/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text|url-status=dead}}</ref> Ivory was banned internationally by CITES in 1990. Following the bans, unemployment rose in India and China, where the ivory industry was important economically. By contrast, Japan and Hong Kong, which were also part of the industry, were able to adapt and were not as badly affected.<ref name=Shoshani202 /> Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi wanted to continue the ivory trade and were allowed to, since their local populations were healthy, but only if their supplies were from culled individuals or those that died of natural causes.<ref name=ivory />

The ban allowed the elephant to recover in parts of Africa.<ref name=Shoshani202 /> In February 2012, 650 elephants in [[Bouba Njida National Park]], Cameroon, were slaughtered by Chadian raiders.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hicks|first1=Celeste|title=86 elephants killed in Chad poaching massacre|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/19/86-elephants-chad-poaching-massacre|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=23 September 2015|date=19 March 2013|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925125357/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/mar/19/86-elephants-chad-poaching-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref> This has been called "one of the worst concentrated killings" since the ivory ban.<ref name="ivory" /> Asian elephants are potentially less vulnerable to the ivory trade, as females usually lack tusks. Still, members of the species have been killed for their ivory in some areas, such as [[Periyar National Park]] in India.<ref name=IUCN2 /> China was the biggest market for poached ivory but announced they would phase out the legal domestic manufacture and sale of ivory products in May 2015, and in September 2015, China and the United States said "they would enact a nearly complete ban on the import and export of ivory" due to causes of extinction.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Ryan, F.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/26/china-and-us-agree-on-ivory-ban-in-bid-to-end-illegal-trade-globally|title=China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally|date=26 September 2015|access-date=12 October 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221145628/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/26/china-and-us-agree-on-ivory-ban-in-bid-to-end-illegal-trade-globally|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other threats to elephants include [[habitat destruction]] and [[Habitat fragmentation|fragmentation]]. The Asian elephant lives in areas with some of the highest human populations and may be confined to small islands of forest among human-dominated landscapes. Elephants commonly trample and consume crops, which contributes to conflicts with humans, and both elephants and humans have died by the hundreds as a result. Mitigating these conflicts is important for conservation. One proposed solution is the protection of [[wildlife corridor]]s which give populations greater interconnectivity and space.<ref name=IUCN2 /> Chili pepper products as well as guarding with defense tools have been found to be effective in preventing crop-raiding by elephants. Less effective tactics include [[beehive fence|beehive]] and [[electric fences]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Montgomery|first1=R. A.|last2=Raupp|first2=J|last3=Mukhwana|first3=M|last4=Greenleaf|first4=A|last5=Mudumba|first5=T|last6=Muruthi|first6=P|year=2022|title=The efficacy of interventions to protect crops from raiding elephants|journal=Ambio|volume=51|issue=3|pages=716–727|doi=10.1007/s13280-021-01587-x|pmid=34173175 |pmc=8800974 |bibcode=2022Ambio..51..716M }}</ref>