Examining Human Perception of Elephants and Large Trees for Insights Into Conservation of an African Savanna Ecosystem

Abstract

In savanna ecosystems, African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and large trees such as marula (Sclerocarya birreaand) and knobthorn (Acacia nigrescens) have ecological and human value; however, elephants have a large impact on favored trees, motivating the need for ecological conservation strategies. This study examined the perceptions of tourists and residents towards elephants, large trees, and other relevant factors for management purposes. In the Associated Private Nature Reserves, South Africa, a survey was distributed to tourists and residents to determine perceptions of elephants of different age classes, group sizes and sex, and toward savanna habitat impacted to varying degrees by elephants. Both interest groups had high attractiveness rankings for all elephant types. Undamaged tree types received high attractiveness rankings while damaged trees received lower ranks, revealing a conflict of interests.Undamaged trees and the elephant types that cause high amounts of impact to those trees are both liked. Respondents may not be associating attractiveness levels with levels of impact. Residents encouraged more intrusive elephant management methods than tourists. Environmental manipulation was found to be the most supported and balanced technique. This supports the use of meta-population management, which focuses primarily on the environment and the elephant population secondarily.

The African Elephant (<i>Loxodonta africana</i>): Mini-Review of an Endangered Species

“…Elephant populations and the beautiful undegraded landscapes are always important factors of attractiveness, especially for tourism. Residents and tourists in the Associated Private Nature Reserves (South Africa) demonstrated to be more favourable to strategies that involve managing ecosystem functioning than controlling elephant populations [124].…”

The management dilemma: Removing elephants to save large trees

“…Large trees (> 5 m in height) have a particular aesthetic significance to both the public and conservation managers (Shannon et al 2008), being considered as important landscape features where they occur (Edge et al 2017;Owen-Smith et al 2006). The addition or reduction of large trees across a threshold is thus an indication of changing ecological states (Dublin, Sinclair & McGlade 1990).…”

“…In South Africa, where savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) populations and large trees have co-existed on fenced-off landscapes such as within the Kruger National Park (KNP), the impact of elephants on large trees is viewed by some as unsustainable (Asner et al 2016;Edge et al 2017). State officials and conservation managers are continuously involved in discussions concerned with managing the impacts of elephants in an attempt to protect large trees and maintain the natural system in an 'ideal' state, usually based on colonial historical records (Kerley et al 2008) or driven by tourist perceptions or expectations of an aesthetic landscape (Edge et al 2017). These records, however, coincide with the near-extermination of elephants in South Africa from over 100 000 individuals, as a consequence of recreational and subsistence hunting (Whyte 2001).…”