African Elephant Conservation in Malawi (2026): Progress and Threats

Last reviewed August 2026. Conservation data changes — see the cited sources for the latest figures.

Malawi is a small, densely settled country with an important role in southern Africa’s elephant conservation story. Its protected areas include Liwonde National Park, Majete Wildlife Reserve, Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve and Kasungu National Park. These landscapes have experienced both severe wildlife losses and carefully managed recovery efforts, making Malawi a useful case study in how protection, ecological restoration and local livelihoods must work together.

Why elephants matter in Malawi

African savanna elephants are classified as Endangered globally, while African forest elephants are classified as Critically Endangered [8]. The IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group manages the African Elephant Database, the official repository for information on elephant distribution and abundance across the species’ range. A new reassessment of African savanna elephants is expected by the end of 2026, so readers should treat older continent-wide status figures as a baseline rather than a final 2026 count [1].

Malawi’s elephants occupy woodland, savanna and wetland-linked habitats. They move between feeding areas, water sources and seasonal ranges, sometimes crossing national borders. Kasungu National Park is connected ecologically to Zambia’s Lukusuzi National Park, and conservation partners have described long-standing elephant movement routes across this landscape [3][10]. Protecting these routes is important because isolated parks can become overcrowded, while surrounding communities may experience crop damage when elephants leave protected areas.

The country’s recent history demonstrates the scale of the challenge. In an IFAW-supported Malawi–Zambia landscape, only 50 elephants remained in 2015, compared with more than 1,000 in the 1970s [10]. The Global Environment Facility has also reported that Malawi lost 50% of its elephant population since the 1980s and was identified by CITES as a country of primary concern for elephant conservation [7]. These figures describe historical decline, not a current national population estimate.

The main threats to Malawi’s elephants

Poaching and illegal ivory markets

Poaching remains a threat even where elephant numbers are improving. Across Africa, the Great Elephant Census found 352,271 savanna elephants in 93% of the species’ range in its 2016 baseline, and identified poaching as a major driver of decline. The same survey found stable or slightly growing herds in parts of Malawi, alongside South Africa, Uganda and Kenya [4]. A stable local trend therefore does not mean that Malawi’s elephants are free from wider ivory-market pressures.

Malawi has strengthened its legal response. In December 2016, amendments to the Wildlife and National Parks Act increased penalties for poaching and trafficking listed species, including elephants, with convicted offenders facing prison sentences of up to 30 years [7]. In 2017, two elephant poachers were each sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to the Global Environment Facility [7]. Strong legislation is valuable, but effective prosecution also depends on investigations, evidence handling, judicial capacity and cross-border cooperation.

For a wider explanation of Malawi’s law-enforcement response, see SafariFind’s guide to anti-poaching in Malawi.

Habitat loss and fragmentation

Human settlement, agriculture and infrastructure reduce the continuous habitat available to elephants. IFAW identifies expanding settlement and habitat fragmentation as pressures on ancient movement routes between Malawi and Zambia [3]. The same source warns that conservation requires long-term investment to address habitat loss, climate pressures and transnational organised crime.

Fragmentation creates several problems at once. Elephants may lose access to seasonal resources, parks can become ecologically isolated, and animals are more likely to encounter farms and villages. Research on elephant conservation clusters has found that connectivity and room to move are important to long-term population stability; Kasungu is among the Malawi landscapes represented in research on elephant habitat use and human activity [11].

Human–elephant conflict

Human–elephant conflict is one of Malawi’s most immediate conservation challenges. Elephants can damage crops, raid grain stores and, in some circumstances, threaten human safety. These costs fall most heavily on households living beside protected areas, so conservation programmes that focus only on elephant numbers are unlikely to remain durable without practical community support [3].

There is encouraging evidence from Kasungu National Park. Incidents recorded by park authorities and community outreach programmes in Traditional Authorities around the park declined from 690 cases in 2022 to 94 in 2025 [3]. The figures indicate substantial progress in that area, but they should not be interpreted as proof that conflict has been solved across Malawi. Reporting methods, local conditions and the effectiveness of prevention measures can vary between landscapes.

Climate and changing resources

Climate pressures add complexity to elephant management. Changes in water availability, vegetation and seasonal conditions can influence where elephants move and when they encounter farms or people. IFAW lists climate pressures alongside habitat loss and transnational crime among the challenges facing connected landscapes in Malawi and Zambia [3]. The available research does not provide a single Malawi-wide climate impact figure, so the most accurate conclusion is that climate change increases uncertainty and reinforces the need for connected, well-managed habitat.

What is being done to protect elephants?

Strategic translocations

Malawi has used translocation to reduce pressure in some reserves, restore depleted populations and rebuild functioning ecosystems. Between 2016 and 2017, African Parks moved 520 elephants from Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve in what African Parks describes as one of the largest elephant translocations in history [2].

The operation increased Nkhotakota’s elephant population from 100 to 586 animals, according to African Parks [2]. The organisation also reports that almost 500 elephants and 2,000 other plains-game animals had been moved to Nkhotakota by August 2017 to restore the reserve and support a conservation-led tourism economy [2]. These figures are associated with different descriptions of the same broader restoration effort, so they should not be added together.

Translocation is not a substitute for habitat protection. It is expensive, logistically difficult and potentially stressful for animals. Its conservation value depends on whether the destination can provide secure habitat, reliable law enforcement and constructive relationships with neighbouring communities. Malawi’s experience shows why moving elephants must be paired with long-term management rather than treated as a one-off solution.

A later operation reinforced this approach. In 2022, African Parks, IFAW and Conservation Solutions moved more than 260 elephants from Liwonde National Park to Kasungu National Park to reduce pressure in Liwonde and increase elephant numbers in Kasungu [9]. The transfer also highlights the need to manage elephants at a landscape scale rather than park by park.

Rangers, communications and law enforcement

Ranger teams are central to elephant conservation because they deter illegal killing, monitor wildlife and respond to incidents involving people and animals. IFAW’s Combating Wildlife Crime Malawi–Zambia Transboundary Landscape Project trained ranger forces and supported communications between Malawi and Zambia [10]. Three radio towers—two in Kasungu National Park and one in Zambia’s Lukusuzi National Park—were established to improve communication between wildlife officers and rangers along transboundary habitats [10].

Cross-border coordination matters because elephants and wildlife criminals do not follow park boundaries. Radio networks can improve response times and ranger safety, but they require continuing funding, maintenance, trained personnel and strong cooperation between government agencies. IFAW also describes the project as community-supported, linking law enforcement with local participation rather than relying on patrols alone [10].

Landscape restoration and protected-area management

African Parks manages major protected areas in Malawi, including Liwonde, Majete and Nkhotakota, in partnership with the Malawi Department of National Parks and Wildlife. Majete was restored through reintroductions involving more than 2,900 animals from 15 species, including elephants, after the reserve had little wildlife [2]. The reserve’s recovery demonstrates how habitat management, wildlife protection and tourism can be planned together.

Kasungu is receiving particular attention because it forms part of a transboundary conservation landscape. IFAW’s 2026 account describes work to reconnect elephant habitat and reduce conflict for communities living around the park [3]. Brighton Kumchedwa, Director of National Parks and Wildlife in Malawi, is identified as a key government conservation partner in that work [3].

Results and setbacks: a balanced picture

The overall picture is therefore neither collapse nor complete recovery. Malawi has achieved notable gains in protected areas where partners have combined translocation, ranger operations, habitat restoration and community engagement. At the same time, the country’s elephants remain dependent on sustained funding and functioning institutions. Habitat connectivity, conflict prevention and protection beyond reserve boundaries will determine whether current gains endure.

Community and tourism’s role

Tourism can support elephant conservation when visitor revenue contributes to protected-area operations, employment and community initiatives. African Parks presents Nkhotakota’s restoration as part of a conservation-led economy intended to support tourism and local communities [2]. Majete’s recovery has likewise been linked to community projects around the reserve [2].

This does not mean that every safari automatically benefits elephants. Travellers should ask operators how park fees, conservation levies or donations are used, whether local people are employed in meaningful roles, and how the operator responds to human–wildlife conflict. A responsible Liwonde National Park safari can introduce visitors to a functioning conservation landscape, but tourism should complement—not replace—public funding and community rights.

Safari experiences also create an incentive to maintain wildlife habitat. Visitors may combine a wildlife safari with other Malawi destinations, but elephants should be observed as wild animals rather than as guaranteed attractions. The value of a wildlife safari park is not measured only by sightings; it also includes the protection of habitats, ranger employment, research and benefits reaching neighbouring communities.

Travellers can book conservation-supporting safaris on SafariFind, while checking the specific conservation commitments of the lodge, guide or operator before paying a deposit.

How travellers can help responsibly

• Choose regulated operators and protected areas. Use established parks and guides who follow park rules and can explain how fees and tourism partnerships support conservation.
• Keep a respectful distance. Never pressure a guide to approach elephants, block their route or encourage animals to change behaviour for photographs.
• Do not buy wildlife products. Avoid ivory and other animal products, and report suspicious offers to park authorities or appropriate law-enforcement channels.
• Support local businesses. Use community-owned services where possible, employ local guides and purchase crafts that do not contain wildlife parts.
• Ask about conflict-sensitive tourism. Responsible operators should acknowledge the costs elephants can impose on neighbouring communities rather than presenting conservation as a simple success story.
• Support credible conservation organisations. Donations are most useful when organisations publish their objectives, partners, monitoring methods and results.
• Travel with realistic expectations. A safari is an opportunity to observe conservation in progress, not a guarantee of seeing elephants or proof that a population is secure.

The outlook for Malawi’s elephants in 2026

Malawi has shown that elephant conservation can recover from severe depletion when government agencies, conservation organisations and communities work across entire landscapes. The 520-elephant restoration programme, the later movement of more than 260 elephants to Kasungu, improved law enforcement and the decline in recorded Kasungu conflict all demonstrate meaningful progress [2][3][7][9].

The next phase will be harder. Conservationists must maintain secure parks, reconnect fragmented habitat, reduce conflict for people living beside reserves and prevent Malawi from becoming vulnerable again to organised wildlife crime. The IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group’s ongoing work to update elephant status assessments also underlines the importance of reliable monitoring and current data [1]. Malawi’s conservation gains are real, but their permanence will depend on long-term finance, accountable management and local communities seeing tangible benefits from living alongside elephants.