This study explores how African elephant populations grow and what limits that growth in the real world. Under perfect conditions, elephants could grow at nearly 5% annually, but due to real-life challenges like limited resources, human conflict and predation, realistic growth is closer to 4%. Key factors like juvenile survival, adult mortality and how often females give birth have major impacts. Even slight changes in these can shift the population trajectory. From a conservation standpoint, this highlights why protecting habitat, fighting poaching and monitoring reproduction are vital. Long-term data collection and flexible, adaptive management help ensure elephants thrive. For hunting conservationists, this kind of research is foundational—by understanding elephant population dynamics, we can set science-based quotas that both fund conservation and maintain healthy herds. Responsible, regulated hunting, when based on solid data like this, supports both the species and the communities living alongside them.
