Movement patterns of forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie, 1900) in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo

[Otros] Les éléphants de forêt d'Afrique (Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie, 1900) sont des ingénieurs en écologie qui jouent un rôle fondamental dans la dynamique de la végétation. L'espèce constitue une préoccupation immédiate pour la conservation, mais elle est relativement peu étudiée. Pour combler cette lacune de connaissances, nous avons étudié les facteurs de déplacements quotidiens (déplacements linéaires) des éléphants de forêt ¿ caractérisés par un ensemble de variables géographiques, météorologiques et anthropiques ¿ dans le Parc National d'Odzala¿Kokoua, en République du Congo. Concrètement, nous avons utilisé la forêt d'arbres décisionnels pour modéliser et démêler les principaux facteurs environnementaux régissant les déplacements de six éléphants de forêt, équipés de colliers GPS et suivis pendant 16 mois. Les résultats ont montré que les femelles se déplaçaient plus loin que les mâles, tandis que la présence de routes ou d¿établissements humains perturbait le comportement des éléphants, ce qui accélérait les déplacements. Les éléphants de forêt se déplaçaient plus rapidement dans les cours d¿eau et dans les forêts dont le sous¿bois était dominé par les forêts de Marantaceae et les bais, mais se déplaçait plus lentement dans les savanes. Enfin, les zones inondables ¿ characterisées par l¿altitude et les précipitations accumulées ¿ et les températures plus élevées empêchaient des déplacements plus longs. Nous espérons que ces résultats amélioreront les connaissances sur les mouvements des espèces à travers différents habitats, ce qui serait bénéfique pour la gestion de leur conservation.[EN] African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis Matschie, 1900) are ecological engineers that play a fundamental role in vegetation dynamics. The species is of immediate conservation concern, yet it is relatively understudied. To narrow this knowledge gap, we studied the drivers of daily movement patterns (linear displacements) of forest elephants¿characterised by a set of geographical, meteorological and anthropogenic variables¿in the Odzala¿Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo. Explicitly, we used conditional random forest to model and disentangle the main environmental factors governing the displacements of six forest elephants,fitted with GPS collars and tracked over 16 months. Results indicated that females moved further distances than males, while the presence of roads or human settlements disrupted elephant behaviour resulting in faster displacements. Forest elephants moved faster along watercourses and through forest with understory dominated by Marantaceae forests and bais, but moved slower in savannahs. Finally, flood¿prone areas¿described by elevation and accumulated precipitation¿and higher temperatures prevented longer displacements. We expect these results to improve the knowledge on the species movements through different habitats, which would benefit its conservation management.The fieldwork was financed by African Parks. We are grateful to the Congolese wildlife authorities (Ministère de l'Économie Forestière et de l'Environnement) for the permission to carry out this study, and we are deeply indebted to the director of the OKNP and to the conservation, wildlife monitoring and research manager, Erik Marav, respectively, for their continued support during our study. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Mike Kock, veterinarian, for collaring the elephants and to the field tracking team. We are also grateful to Séan Cahill for the useful comments and English correction that helped improve this manuscript. 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Animal cultures matter for conservation

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AAAS via the DOI in this record.No abstrac