Elephants drinking water at a waterhole in Botswana, 2022 (photography)

Elephants drinking water at a waterhole in Botswana in the Chobe National Park. Botswana is home to a third of the African elephant population and they could be gone in 23 years. In Africa there are only about 350,000 elephants left. Up to 15,000 specimens are killed each year by poachers. Therefore, this emblematic species could disappear in less than 24 years. Botswana has an estimated population of 130,000 savannah elephants, and is one of the last strongholds of the species in Africa. Elephant populations continue to decline year after year. Poaching and habitat loss mainly due to land change for agricultural uses are some of the causes. Both the reduction of the natural habitat of animals and climate change mean exposing them to deadly pathogens, threatening them with extinction.