The primary threats to elephants fall into four major categories:
- Habitat Loss and Fragmentation: Expanding human populations and land conversion reduce and divide traditional elephant ranges.
- Human–Elephant Conflict (HEC): Elephants and communities compete for space, crops, and resources, leading to conflict and risk for both.
- Poaching: Illegal killing for ivory, skin, and other body parts continues to threaten elephant populations.
- Disease: Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) is a particularly lethal disease affecting young elephants.
