A new study warns that human-elephant conflict could significantly escalate across Southern Africa by 2085 — with elephant crop raids likely to expand up to 100 per cent — driven primarily by expanding farmland and growing human populations rather than climate change alone. 

Home to roughly 290,000 (70 per cent) of Africa’s savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), the region faces rising risks as agricultural communities encroach on wildlife habitats. Researchers emphasise that aggressive land-use expansion will dramatically increase crop-raiding hotspots.