Passage: African elephants were listed as Vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008, with no independent assessment of the conservation status of the two forms. In 1979, Africa had an estimated minimum population of 1.3 million elephants, with a possible upper limit of 3.0 million. By 1989, the population was estimated to be 609,000; with 277,000 in Central Africa, 110,000 in East Africa, 204,000 in southern Africa, and 19,000 in West Africa. About 214,000 elephants were estimated to live in the rainforests, fewer than had previously been thought. From 1977 to 1989, elephant populations declined by 74% in East Africa. After 1987, losses in elephant numbers accelerated, and savannah populations from Cameroon to Somalia experienced a decline of 80%. African forest elephants had a total loss of 43%. Population trends in southern Africa were mixed, with anecdotal reports of losses in Zambia, Mozambique and Angola while populations grew in Botswana and Zimbabwe and were stable in South Africa. Conversely, studies in 2005 and 2007 found populations in eastern and southern Africa were increasing by an average annual rate of 4.0%. Due to the vast areas involved, assessing the total African elephant population remains difficult and involves an element of guesswork. The IUCN estimates a total of around 440,000 individuals for 2012.
How many is the difference between the upper limit of elephants in Africa and the minimum? How many more elephants are estimated to be in Central Africa than in East Africa? How many more elephants are speculated to be in Southern Africa than in West Africa? How many more elephants lived in Central Africa in 1989 compared to East Africa? How many more percentage points of the elephant population was lost in savannah populations in Cameroon and Somalia than African forest elephants? How many of the 609,000 elephants were not in Central Africa? How many years did it take for the elephant populations to decline by 74% in East Africa? How many years was the time span where elephant populations declined by 74% in East Africa? Were there more elephants in West Africa or southern Africa? Which had a higher population of African elephants in 1989, East Africa or southern Africa? Which part of Africa had the smallest population of elephants?