KRUGER MAGAZINE | Issue 4 – Winter 201846

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

KRUGER MAGAZINE | Issue 4 – Winter 201846

ELEPHANTS ALIVEStudying Kruger’s elephants for 20 years!by Harriet Nimmo

African elephant (Loxodonta Africana). Photo © Christin Winter

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SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), commonly referred

to as ‘black rhino’, have been relentlessly persecuted since the 19th century and there are only about 5 000 animals remaining today. Ruthless poaching across Africa, and presently in South Africa, threatens the survival of the species on a global scale. South African National Parks (SANParks) has established a Black Rhino Guardian Programme in the Kruger National Park, which hosts the largest population of black rhino in the country. This multidisciplinary programme draws support from Scientific Services, Ranger Services, Air Services and Veterinary Wildlife Services to enable the best management and protection possible for the species.

Black rhinoceros. Photo © Estiaan Houy

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Kruger is home to one of southern Africa’s largest free-ranging elephant populations. With the fences down, elephants

can move throughout the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. This includes Kruger National Park and the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) bordering the park (Timbavati, Klaserie, Umbabat, Balule and Thornybush) in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and Parque Nacional do Limpopo in Mozambique.

“The biggest challenge is ‘trying to provide advice on both how to best manage expanding populations in fenced reserves

within South Africa, while simultaneously educating people on the alarming pan-African decline facing elephants’ .”

For 20 years, Elephants Alive, the Hoedspruit-based NGO, has been studying the elephants of the Greater Kruger to ensure their survival, and to promote harmony with humans.

We have developed an identification database of nearly 2 000 elephants by photographing and drawing their unique features. We identify individual elephants by their sex, ear patterns (tears, notches, holes) and the shape of their tusks. Monitoring individual elephants for 20 years has enabled us to understand their social bonds, their breeding behaviour, and their movements over time.

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“From zero ivory poaching incidents three years ago,

Kruger has lost close to 100 elephants to poaching over the past 18 months, mainly in the

north of the Park.”

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

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We have also radio-collared and named 80 elephants since 1998, so we can follow their movements in greater detail throughout the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. We have focused our attention on monitoring and naming mature bulls because much less is known about male elephants. Males can also be more at risk of being involved in human-elephant conflicts such as crop raiding – and of course big bulls are top of poachers’ hit lists. We map the movements of these collared bulls and their

social interactions, record their vocal communications, and try to understand the genetic relatedness between bulls by DNA-testing their dung. These last two activities are undertaken in collaboration with Cambridge University. Our research is helping us to understand the importance of the oldest bulls in elephant society, sadly deemed by trophy hunters to be ‘beyond their prime’ and by poachers as their most lucrative targets because of their large tusks. We have watched these long-lived old males teach, lead and discipline

Collared elephant ‘Classic’, about 45 years old.Photo © Mike Kendrick

EA Researcher Ronny Makukule tracking elephants.Photo © Neil Aldridge

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Our elephant ID studies are the longest and most consistent

for all of southern Africa. This long-term research is providing fundamental information for elephant management and protection, informing SANParks, conservation bodies and private landowners on seasonal movements, the sustainability of trophy hunting in some private reserves, and impact on vegetation. Worryingly, it is now also used to identify poaching hotspots.

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“Our elephant ID studies are the longest and most consistent for all of southern Africa. This long-term research is providing fundamental

information for elephant management and protection.”

the younger bulls. Elephants revere their elders, relying on their wisdom to teach them their ways – something we humans sadly seem to have lost.

Africa has already lost a third of its savannah elephant population during the past seven years. There has been a 65% decline in forest elephants over a ten-year period. The staggering decimation of elephant herds in Mozambique and Tanzania (53% and a 60% decline respectively over a five-year period) has left many concerned that elephant poaching in South Africa will increase. From zero ivory poaching incidents three years ago, Kruger has lost close to 100 elephants to poaching over the past 18 months, mainly in the north of the Park.

It is Elephant Alive’s belief

that, while it is not yet out of hand in South Africa, poaching is a real threat. The reality hit home when one of Elephants Alive’s collared bulls, ‘Charlie’, was poached at the end of 2017, just a few weeks after having had his collar fitted in Parque Nacional do Limpopo.

Our research has also provided very valuable information to SANParks, which requires detailed information

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

on how elephants move relative to their resources in order to better manage their impact on the vegetation. Elephants were culled from 1967 to 1994 in an attempt to keep the population densities around 6 000. Today, the population is closer to 20 000, so understanding their movements is critical to any decisions required across the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park as a collective whole.

Tranquilised elephant during re-collaring.Photos © Mike Kendrick

Michelle re-collaring ‘Classic’.

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As well as identifying and studying the movements of elephants, Elephants Alive also works hard to minimise human-elephant conflict. One of the biggest issues is elephants damaging large trees – particularly in the private reserves bordering Kruger, where there are more artificial waterholes, which attract more elephants in times of drought or during the dry season when they are primarily browsers. Some private landowners are calling for elephants to be shot to reduce tree damage.

“As well as identifying and studying the movements of elephants, Elephants Alive

also works hard to minimise human-elephant conflict.”

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

Elephants Alive outreach work at schools.

Beekeepers hanging beehives in a tree.Photo © Mike Kendrick

Elephants bypassing a tree with beehives.Photo © Robin Cook

“It is known that elephants do not like bees.”

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Since 2004, more than 3 000 individual trees have been monitored to understand elephant impact, including 62 trees with southern ground hornbills and 226 trees with raptor/vulture nesting sites. Half of these trees have had wire net wrapped around their trunks to prevent bark-stripping by elephants. The three iconic tree species that we focus on are marula, knobthorn and false marula. The results from this study highlight this cost-effect measure to protect large trees.

It is known that elephants do not like bees, and beehive fences have been successfully used in East Africa to protect farmers’ crops. Elephants Alive has pioneered innovative research, using beehives suspended in a number of iconic marula trees over a two-year study period. Our research showed that only 2% of study trees with beehives experienced any elephant damage, compared to 28% of

Contact us

Elephants Aliveinfo2u@elephantsalive.org

Elephants Alive

Elephants Alive’s team is led by Dr Michelle Henley, co-founder, CEO and principal researcher. Named as one of “the ten most inspiring women in South Africa” by Culture Trip in 2017, Michelle is one of conservation’s unsung heroes. When asked what Elephants Alive’s biggest challenge is, Michelle explains that the biggest challenge is “trying to provide advice on both how to best manage expanding populations in fenced reserves within South Africa, while simultaneously educating people on the alarming pan-African decline facing elephants”.

SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

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SPECIES ID ‒ MAMMALS | RESEARCH PROJECT

Visit our website on: www.elephantsalive.org

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marula trees whose trunks were protected with wire netting and 54% of trees with no protection. The beehives provide a win-win solution – protecting iconic trees, generating honey for sale and reducing human-elephant conflict.

It is Elephant Alive’s belief that, to ensure the long-term preservation of these free-ranging elephants, it is critical to empower, inform and involve impoverished local communities. We run education programmes with rural communities and government schools. We work closely with the all-female

Black Mamba anti-poaching patrols, improving community liaison efforts and providing inspirational role models for young learners. Elephants Alive also runs collaborative programmes with Wild Shots Photography Outreach, targeting young learners in communities where there is human-elephant conflict.

With expanding human populations putting ever more pressure on Africa’s reserves and National Parks, and increasing threats from poaching, Elephants Alive’s work is increasingly crucial.

Dr Michelle Henley, CEO, with an elephant collar.Photo © Mike Kendrick