Yussuf A. Wato, Ignas M.A. Heitkönig, Sipke E. van Wieren, Geoffrey Wahungu, Herbert H.T. Prins, Frank van Langevelde

Biological Conservation

Published date May 2, 2017

Prolonged drought results in starvation of African elephant (Loxodonta africana)

  • States that human-induced climate change is threatening wildlife communities globally
  • States that incidents of drought occur more frequently globally and, particularly, in Africa over the last 25 years
  • States there is a need to better understand the causes of drought-induced mortality
  • Finds that prolonged dry periods result in increased adult elephant mortality
  • Finds that elephant mortality during dry periods is high close to water
  • Finds that during dry periods, elephant mortality is due to starvation rather than dehydration