Coexistence between People and Elephants in African Savannas

Hoare, Richard; Toit, Du

doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.98035.x

Cited by 199 publications

(209 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In general, the wet season habitat selection patterns of male and female elephants were similar and supported the relevance of previously reported habitat covariates (see Harris et al 2008;Hoare and Du Toit 1999;Loarie et al 2009a;Roever et al 2012;Wall et al 2006). Both sexes had a nonlinear relationship with water, selecting for areas both near and far from water relative to availability (Table 2).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…These included surface water (de Beer et al 2006;Harris et al 2008), slope (Wall et al 2006), vegetation cover (Harris et al 2008;Loarie et al 2009a), and human presence (Harris et al 2008;Hoare and Du Toit 1999;Jackson et al 2008). Wet season surface water was located using data from Tracks4Africa (2010) and man-made watering point data provided by conservation authorities.…”

Section: Habitat Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional connectivity within conservation networks: Delineating corridors for African elephants

Roever

Aarde

Leggett

2013

Biological Conservation

105

100

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Managing multiple parks, reserves, and conservation areas collectively as conservation networks is a recent, yet growing trend. But in order for these networks to be ecologically viable, the functional connectivity of the landscape must be ensured. We assessed the connectivity between six African savanna elephant populations in southern Africa to test whether existing conservation networks were functioning and to identify other areas that could benefit from being managed as conservation networks. We used resource selection function models to create an index of habitat selection by males and female elephants. We employed this habitat use index as a resistance surface, and applied circuit theory to assess connectivity between adjacent elephant populations within six clusters of protected areas across southern Africa. Circuit theory current flow maps predicted a high likelihood of connectivity in the central portion of our study area (i.e. between the Chobe, Kafue, Luangwa, and Zambezi cluster). Main factors limiting connectivity across the study area were high human density in the east and a lack of surface water in the west. These factors effectively isolate elephants in the Etosha cluster in Namibia and Niassa clusters in Mozambique from the central region. Our models further identified two clusters where elephants might benefit from being managed as part of a conservation network, 1) northern Zambia and Malawi and 2) northern Mozambique.We conclude that using habitat selection and circuit theory models to identify conservation networks is a data-based method that can be applied to other focal species to identify and conserve functional connectivity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Habitat Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional connectivity within conservation networks: Delineating corridors for African elephants

Roever

Aarde

Leggett

2013

Biological Conservation

105

100

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“…Areas with >16 people/km 2 were considered relevant for elephant space use (Hoare and Du Toit, 1999); therefore, these areas were identified and distance to these high human-use areas was calculated.…”

Section: Modelling Animal Locationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating mortality into habitat selection to identify secure and risky habitats for savannah elephants

Roever

Aarde

Chase

2013

Biological Conservation

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Empirical models of habitat selection are increasingly used to guide and inform habitat-based management plans for wildlife species. However, habitat selection does not necessarily equate to habitat quality particularly if selection is maladaptive, so incorporating measures of fitness into estimations of occurrence is necessary to increase model robustness. Here, we incorporated spatially explicit mortality events with the habitat selection of elephants to predict secure and risky habitats in northern Botswana. Following a two-step approach, we first predict the relative probability of use and the relative probability of mortality based on landscape features using logistic regression models. 2Combining these two indices, we then identified low mortality and high use (primary habitat) and areas of high mortality and high use (primary risk). We found that mortalities of adult elephants were closely associated with anthropogenic features, with 80% of mortalities occurring within 25 km of people.Conversely, elephant habitat selection was highest at distances of 30 to 50 km from people. Primary habitat for elephants occurred in the central portion of the study area and within the Okavango Delta; whereas risky areas occurred along the periphery near humans. The protected designation of an area had less influence on the proportion of prime habitat therein than did the locations of the area in relation to human development. Elephant management in southern Africa is moving towards a more self-sustaining, habitat-based approach, and information on selection and mortality could serve as a baseline to help identify demographic sources and sinks to stabilize elephant demography.

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“…habitats, has led to the widespread exclusion of elephants from their previous ranges (Hoare and Du Toit 1999;Parker and Graham 1989;Sukumar 2006). The increase in the human-elephant interface has caused an increase in conflict (Nelson and others 2003), defined as 'any humanelephant interaction which results in negative effects on human social, economic or cultural life, on elephant conservation or on the environment' (Hoare 2001a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erratum to: Elephants Also Like Coffee: Trends and Drivers of Human–Elephant Conflicts in Coffee Agroforestry Landscapes of Kodagu, Western Ghats, India

Bal

Nath

Nanaya

et al. 2011

Environmental Management

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Kodagu district produces 2% of the world's coffee, in complex, multistoried agroforestry systems. The forests of the district harbour a large population of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). The combined effects of high elephant density and major landscape changes due to the expansion of coffee cultivation are the cause of human-elephant conflicts (HEC). Mitigation strategies, including electric fences and compensation schemes implemented by the Forest Department have met with limited success. Building on previous studies in the area, we assessed current spatial and temporal trends of conflict, analysed local stakeholders' perceptions and identified factors driving elephants into the estates. Our study, initiated in May 2007, shows that the intensity of HEC has increased over the last 10 years, exhibiting new seasonal patterns. Conflict maps and the lack of correlation between physical features of the coffee plantations and elephant visits suggest elephants move along corridors between the eastern and western forests of the district, opportunistically foraging when crossing the plantations. Dung analyses indicate elephants have selectively included ripe coffee berries in their diet. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of wild elephants feeding on coffee berries. If this new behaviour spreads through the population, it will compound an already severe conflict situation. The behavioural plasticity, the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, the difficulty in defining the problem and the limits of technical solutions already proposed suggest that HEC in Kodagu has the ingredients of a ''wicked'' problem whose resolution will require more shared understanding and problem solving work amongst the stakeholders.

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Coexistence between People and Elephants in African Savannas

Cited by 199 publications

References 12 publications

Functional connectivity within conservation networks: Delineating corridors for African elephants

Functional connectivity within conservation networks: Delineating corridors for African elephants

Incorporating mortality into habitat selection to identify secure and risky habitats for savannah elephants

Erratum to: Elephants Also Like Coffee: Trends and Drivers of Human–Elephant Conflicts in Coffee Agroforestry Landscapes of Kodagu, Western Ghats, India

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