Unprecedented census confirms staggering decline in African elephant populations
 

Unprecedented census confirms staggering decline in African elephant populations
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While wildlife experts and advocates have long k**wn elephants are in dire need of protection, essential data has been missing from the debate around conservation.*

Mainly, conservationists have faced one vital question for decades: How many African elephants are actually left in the wild?

SEE ALSO: Gripping photos capture the beauty and plight of the world's elephants


The Great Elephant Census (GEC), an aerial data collection effort spearheaded by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's philanthropic investment company Vulcan Inc., is helping fill in this gap.*

On Wednesday, the project released unprecedented data on African savanna elephants with the hope of informing conservation efforts. Over the past three years, GEC researchers have been collecting elephant population data from 18 countries in Africa in what is the first continent-wide aerial survey of African elephants. Read more...

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