Large herbivores, particularly savanna elephants, are regarded as ecosystem engineers which shapes woody species structure in protected areas. Fluctuations in elephant populations in protected areas drives recruitment and regeneration of woody vegetation across different habitats. Savanna elephants generally exhibit a patchy foraging style, leading to heterogeneity in woody vegetation response that may be identified by analysing variation in vegetation recruitment and regeneration. In this study we sought to determine quantitatively the extent of vegetation damage and regeneration in different major woody vegetation in SWRA, and to determine seedling and sapling density in major vegetation types in SWRA. Data was collected from the 15th July, 2021 to 15th August, 2021. We ascertained and recorded woody vegetation damage levels, density of mature trees, saplings and seedlings in each plot. Data for tree, sapling and seedling density was not normally distributed therefore nonparametric test were conducted in Minitab-17. The results showed that sapling density were higher across different woody species plots followed by seedling and mature trees. Damage by elephants contributed only 0.9% of all the plants sampled. Overall good regeneration was recorded an indication of future vegetation structure change in SWRA. The study recommends long term monitoring in vegetation structure changes due to current recruitment and regeneration in SWRA and beyond.