Copyright John H. Probert 2013
Elephant movement and monitoring
The South African survey of 1995, known as Elesmap, utilizing the airplane monitoring method described above. A total of 311, 373 elephants were found across five countries: Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Namibia. This collected data was used to make management decisions about the elephants and analyze the locations of potential corridors (WWF International 1997). This survey method works mainly because there is open ground and the elephants do not have as much potential cover. However, this method is effectively useless when gauging forest elephant populations in Central Africa, as they inhabit the rainforest and tree cover
makes it all but impossible to complete an aerial census.
In Central Africa, dung piles are used to determine populations of Forest Elephants. Forest
elephants live in smaller herds, and once again, given the tree cover, it is almost impossible to
count them by aircraft (Blom 2014). Thus, transects and people actively searching in the field
are the only methods to develop an accurate forest elephant census. (Walsh et al. 1999). This
also proves problematic in tracking the impacts of poaching on the forest elephant populations
(Blake et al. 2007).
East African nations utilize a hybridization of these methods. In Kenya, both airplanes and on
the ground searches are utilized. Furthermore, the presence and popularity of safari vehicles
also helps gauge elephant populations (Dobson 2014). Safari vehicle usage inside and outside
of protected areas act as a way to both monitor and protect elephants. Most poaching will not
occur in the presence of large groups of people, and traveling in the safari vehicles allow for a
quick way to check on established herds and gauge the threat of poaching.
Technology and elephant movement
Technology has led to a wave of new developments regarding elephant monitoring and
management. Traditionally, elphantys would be surveyed either on foot or by airplane. The
aerial surveys would consist of five individuals: a pilot, two observers, and two recorders, with
the airplane flying over an area of 2 to 5 miles. Commercial aircraft are now being talked about
to be used to collect radio collar or camera trap signals through a partnership called
Partners in the Sky.
Elephant Management Strategies
South African nations usually use three methods to manage their populations: Let the elephant populations go above carrying capacity, artificially keep the population below carrying capacity and move elephants to areas of low elephant density (WWF-International 1997). Previously, the nation of South Africa also utilized culling when elephant densities got too high. For instance, Kruger National Park has a population of over 15,000 elephants, but can really only support 7,500 elephants (Evelth 2011). Culling was effectively utilized, but was banned for 13 years. Recently, the elephant cull was reestablished in 2008 in response to a further growing population (Craig 2008). However, some are now calling on using immunocontraception on preventing elephant population growth in order to avoid the deleterious effects of a cull (Evelth 2011). It should also be noted that there almost no free ranging elephants except for a dozen or so individuals in the Knysa Mountains in South Africa (Eggert et al. 2007), mainly being due to the fact that almost all of the parks in South Africa are fenced.
Central Africa, specifically the Cong Basin encompassing six countries including Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Republic of the Congo (WWF Africa program 2014). The elephants in Central Africa are Forest Elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) (IUCN 2014). They are smaller than savannah elephants and have yellower tusks (Blake 2002). There have been great efforts to conserve the Central African elephant population. The forest elephant population has declined by 62%, mostly due to poaching (Blake et al. 2007) (Maisels et al. 2007), but also due to hunting for meat (Stiles 2012). There are efforts to cut down on human presence in elephant-dominated areas, as elephants tend to stay away from human-dominated areas, further restricting their movement (Blake et al. 2008).
East Africa utilizes a combination of both private and public areas. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been known for conserving elephants since its inception. The KWS has been known for being a model of park management utilizing diverse methods in protecting wildlife with its ranger program (Otieno N.A.). Over the years, the KWS has developed management plans for their elephants, which are constantly updated to meet new challenges (Litoroh et al. 2013). These management plans help to put into place new policies and infrastructure improvements to manage elephants. The KWS has multiple ranger schools, advanced technology to combat poaching and procedures for dealing with human-elephant conflict, notably elephant translocation (Lekolool 2012). The Laikipia area of Kenya has recently been emerging as a symbol of wildlife management on both public and private lands. The Laikipia corridor consists of three conservancies, a national park and the Mpala research station. It provides an effective way to facilitate migration, even though there are roads running through the corridor (Valdez 2014).
The CAMPFIRE program of the late 1990’s was a breakthrough in establishing management of elephants in non-protected areas through the efforts of local people. There is a case study from Zimbabwe to illustrate this. It focuses on the impact of increasing cattle ranching on elephant distribution on a communal conservancy (WWF-International 1997). It showed that the needs of cattle and elephant could be effectively managed, even though elephant movement was somewhat restricted. CAMPFIRE is no longer in existence, but new methods of thinking and planning are being tested and implemented every day.
Dr. Allard Blom - WWF Managing Director, Congo Basin
"In terms of tracking elephants in the forest using VHF telemetry, the signal often gets bounced around due to trees, particularly when raining."
"It is difficult to monitor forest elephants due to thick vegetation. It is difficult to see the elephants and dung piles have been used in the past to estimate elephant populations.
"There is talk of using commercial aircraft to pick up the signals of collared animals and be able to beam back data in realtime, which would help our capacity to study wildlife."
"Poaching is a major problem for forest elephants, with poachers often using elephant trails to find their next target."
References and Further Reading
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