Occurrence and Level of Elephant Damage to Farms Adjacent to Mount Kenya Forests: Implications for Conservation

Incidences of elephant’s crop raids in Mount Kenya area have escalated in the recent past causing considerable damage to the fragile local economy that is mainly peasant farming.  Studies on crop-raiding predisposing factors, nature and extent of the damage in this region are scanty. Thus, this was the aim of this study.  Data was obtained from questionnaires and occurrence books at Kenya Wildlife Service between 1997 – 2000.  Elephant movements were mapped in relationship to watering points and salt licks.  It was found that crop-raiding incidences by elephants were widely spread over the study area (80%, n = 487).  Crop damage severity was about 16.8 % of the expected yields.  Levels of crop damage were positively correlated to crop occurrence (r = 0.982, P = 0.01).  Thus, damage levels were substantive. Elephant’s crop-raids should stop.  Fencing off elephant from farmland will solve crop-raiding problems and enhance their conservation. Keywords: Elephants crop-raiding, human-wildlife conflict, forest fragmentation, conservation area barrier

How “science” can facilitate the politicization of charismatic megafauna counts

Ideally, the practice of science stays independent, informs policy in real time, and facilitates learning. However, when large uncertainties go unreported or are not effectively communicated, science can, inadvertently, facilitate inappropriate politics.http://www.pnas.orgam2023Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Movement Patterns of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) in a Semi-arid Savanna Suggest That They Have Information on the Location of Dispersed Water Sources

Water is a scarce resource in semi-arid savannas where over half of the African elephants (Loxodonta africana) populations occur and may therefore influence their movement pattern. A random search is expected for an animal with no information on the location of the target resource, else, a direction-oriented walk is expected. We hypothesized that elephants movement patterns show a stronger directional orientation toward water sources in the dry season compared to the wet season. We investigated the movement paths of four male and four female elephants with hourly GPS fixes in Tsavo National Park, Kenya in 2012–2013. Consistent with our predictions, the movement paths of elephants had longer step lengths, longer squared net displacements, and were directed toward water sources in the dry season as compared to the wet season. We argue that African elephants know the location of dispersed water resources, enabling them to survive with scarce resources in dry savannas. These results can be used in conservation and management of wildlife, through for instance, protection of preferred water sources

Using Range Condition Assessment to Optimize Wildlife Stocking in Tindress Wildlife Sanctuary, Nakuru District, Kenya

Over 70% of Kenya’s wildlife resources occur outside protected areas, in areas where land use practices do not necessarily conform to wildlife conservation standards. Ensuring that land use practices in these areas accommodate wildlife conservation is vital in effectively conserving wildlife in this country. Tindress Farm in Rift Valley offers a good example of a place where economic activities and wildlife conservation can work harmoniously. The farm has set up a 320-ha wildlife sanctuary in the hilly parts of the property to provide a haven for wildlife displaced by human settlements in the surrounding environs. The Tindress Farm management needed to know the diversity and optimum number of wildlife species that the sanctuary could accommodate. This study set out to 1) outline a set of models for objectively calculating wildlife stocking levels and 2) demonstrate the practical use of these models in estimating optimum stocking levels for a specific wildlife sanctuary. After comparing models using forage inventory methods models and utilization-based methods (UM), we opted to use UM models because of their focus on ecological energetics. This study established that the range condition in Tindress Wildlife Sanctuary varied from poor to good (29-69%) and recommended a total stocking density of 158.9 grazer units and 201.4 browser units shared out by the various herbivore species. These estimates remain a best-case scenario. The effects of rainfall, range condition, and condition of the animals should be monitored continuously to allow for adjustments through active adaptive management.The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202

Elephants move faster in small fragments of low productivity in Amboseli ecosystems: Kenya

Understanding factors affecting the behaviour and movement patterns of the African elephant is important for wildlife conservation, especially in increasingly human-dominated savanna landscapes. Currently, knowledge on how landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity affect elephant speed of movement remains poorly understood. In this study, we tested whether landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity explains elephant speed of movement in the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya. We used GPS collar data from five elephants to quantify elephant speed of movement for three seasons (wet, dry and transitional). We then used multiple regression to model the relationship between speed of movement and landscape fragmentation, as well as vegetation productivity for each season. Results of this study demonstrate that landscape fragmentation and vegetation productivity predicted elephant speed of movement poorly (R2 < 0.4) when used as solitary covariates. However, a combination of the covariates significantly (p < 0.05) explained variance in elephant speed of movement with improved R2 values of 0.69, 0.45, 0.47 for wet, transition and dry seasons, respectively

Data from: Fencing solves human‐wildlife conflict locally but shifts problems elsewhere: a case study using functional connectivity modelling of the African elephant

1. Fencing is one of the commonest methods for mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. At the same time, fencing is considered to be of one of the most pressing emerging threats to conservation globally. Although fences act as barriers and eventually can cause population isolation and fragmentation, it is challenging to quantitatively predict the possible consequences fences have for wildlife. 2. Here, we model how fencing designed to mitigate human-elephant conflict (HEC) on the Borderlands between Kenya and Tanzania will affect functional connectivity and movement corridors for African elephants. Specifically, we (1) model functional landscape connectivity integrating natural and anthropogenic factors; (2) predict seasonal movement corridors used by elephants in non-protected areas; and (3) evaluate whether fencing in one area can potentially intensify human-wildlife conflicts elsewhere. 3. We used GPS movement and remote sensing data to develop monthly step-selection functions to model functional connectivity. For future scenarios, we used a currently ongoing fencing project designed for human-elephant conflict mitigation within the study area. We modelled movement corridors using least-cost path and circuit theory methods, evaluated their predictive power and quantified connectivity changes resulting from the planned fencing. 4. Our results suggest that fencing will not cause landscape fragmentation and will not change functional landscape connectivity dramatically. However, fencing will lead to a loss of connectivity locally and will increase the potential for HEC in new areas. We estimated that wetlands important for movement corridors will be more intensively used by the elephants, which may also cause problems of overgrazing. Seasonal analysis highlighted an increasing usage of non-protected lands in the dry season and equal importance of the pinch point wetlands for preserving overall function connectivity. 5. Synthesis and applications. Fencing is a solution to small-scale HEC problems, but will not solve the issue at a broader scale. Moreover, our results highlight that it may intensify the conflicts and overuse of habitat patches in other areas, thereby negating any conservation benefits. If fencing is employed on a broader scale, then it is imperative that corridors are integrated within the protected area network to ensure local connectivity of affected species