What are described as the major threats to elephants? Explain why elephants, especially males, are being poached to near extinction.. Earth & Marine Sciences

- Habitat destruction, fragmentation and degradation is a severe threat to elephant populations. Rapid human population growth is also leading to competition for space and as a consequence conflict between humans and elephants is on the increase, often resulting in "revenge killings".

-Poaching for ivory is also a major threat, particularly to African Elephants, with somewhere in the region of 30,000 animals illegally killed per year in Africa in the early 2010s. In Tanzania numbers plummeted from an estimated 109,051 in 2009 to 43,330 in 2014 because of poaching for ivory. The ivory is largely smuggled to Asia where it is carved into ornamental objects that are in high demand.

-Only male Asian Elephants have tusks, so poaching can lead to highly skewed sex ratios among the surviving population.