Glossary

Agriculture: the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

illegal wildlife trade

Biodiversity: the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Canopy Cover: the proportion of the forest-covered by the vertical projection of the tree crowns

sub-Saharan

Captive-breeding: is the breeding of wild animals in places such as zoos, especially animals that have become rare in the wild

Commercial trade: the selling and buying of goods or services for station

Deforestation: the action of clearing a wide area of trees.

Ecosystem: a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Elephant: largest living land animal, characterized by its long trunk, columnar legs, and huge head with temporal glands and wide, flat ears.

Endangered Species: a species of animal or plant that is seriously at risk of extinction.

Genetic variability: the presence of, or the generation of, genetic differences.

Gestation: the process of carrying or being carried in the womb between conception and birth.

Habitat Fragmentation: Fragmentation happens when parts of a habitat are destroyed, leaving behind smaller unconnected areas.

Human-elephant conflict: the negative interactions between human and wild animals, with undesirable consequences both for people and their resources, on the one hand, and wildlife and their habitats on the other.

Ivory: a hard creamy-white substance composing the main part of the tusks of an elephant, walrus, or narwhal, often (especially formerly) used to make ornaments and other articles.

Keystone Species: an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

Migratory Routes: the geographic route along which animals customarily migrate.

Poachers: the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.

Savannah: a tropical grassland with warm temperatures year-round and with its highest seasonal rainfall in the summer. The savanna is characterized by grasses and small or dispersed trees that do not form a closed canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the ground.

Species: the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity.

Traffickers: a person who deals or trades in something illegal.

Vegetation: plants considered collectively, especially those found in a particular area or habitat.