To mark World Elephant Day, the Kenya Wildlife service reported that in the last 30 years, the population of African Elephants has more than doubled, increasing from 16,000 in 1989 to 34,800 by the end of 2019. Several factors may of contributed to this change, including periods of heavy rainfall which aids better vegetation growth for the elephants and therefore leading to less elephant deaths due to dehydration and starvation.
The countries anti-poaching efforts may of also had an impact towards the rise in the elephant population, with poaching numbers dropping significantly from previous years from 34 in 2019, to just 7 this year.
The Kenyan Government has also implemented harsher penalties such as heavier fines and jail sentences for anyone convicted of poaching wildlife or tracking wildlife trophies. Community rangers and the wildlife service are also trained to become data analysts, which helps them to anticipate a poachers next strike. In addition, in 2018 a project named tenBoma was developed which connected local communities to international and regional agencies to stop elephant poachers.