In an undisturbed ecosystem, elephants move across the landscape in response to the availability of food and water and the type of habitat or competition. But according to a continent-wide study coordinated by Save the Elephants and recently published in Current Biology, elephants’ range is now predominantly defined by human activities and the boundaries of protected areas.
The study compared tracking data from 229 elephants collected from 19 sites across Africa between 1998 and 2013 against variables such as vegetation type, tree cover, water availability and human influence.
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/humans-are-biggest-factor-defining-elephant-ranges-across-africa-study-finds/
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