Wild elephant welfare is threatened by habitat loss, human-elephant conflict, poaching, and drought. Protecting elephant welfare at landscape scale requires integrated conservation and community approaches.
Wild elephant welfare cannot be separated from the broader conservation and human development context in which elephants live. The welfare of individual elephants depends on having adequate habitat, food, water, and freedom from conflict and poaching — all of which are shaped by human land use decisions, policy, and economic incentives. Community-based approaches that make elephant conservation economically beneficial for local people are increasingly recognized as the most effective long-term strategy for both conservation and welfare outcomes.