Mount Elgon's Elephants Are in Peril

Abstract

The elephants at Mount Elgon National Park (MENP) are unique and exceptional. They are the only elephants known to excavate for salt in underground caves. Data on the ecology of elephants at MENP were collected over a period of seven years with a total of 130 days of field observations. Methods employed included: direct observations, spoor, photographs, and sound recording. Elephants visited the caves singly or in groups of up to 19 individuals; visits lasted up to 6 hours in Kitum and Makingeny Caves. Most visits began around dusk, but occasionally they entered in daytime or later at night. The frequency of visits by elephants to the caves seemed to increase as the rainfall decreased. Also observed at the caves were bats, ungulates, monkeys, rodents, carnivores, birds, and insects. Plants, rocks, and water samples are being analyzed. It appears that the formation of these caves resulted from the combined "efforts" of salt mining and/or eating activities over millions of years by elephants and other animals and also by pastoral African tribes. In the early 1970's the elephant population in MENP was estimated to be 1,200 ± 100; today perhaps only 50-130 are left. This decline of 10-to 26-fold is mostly due to ivory poaching, which increased dramatically since 1986. If this trend continues, Mount Elgon's already depleted elephant population will become extinct. This would also mean the end of the unprecedented mining behavior-a potential tourist attraction comparable to Rwanda's mountain gorillas in its appeal to tourists. Recommendations and proposals for action include publicity and fund-raising in order to better equip and enlarge anti-poacher patrols, to encourage controlled tourism, and to define research and conservation work related to Mount Elgon's ecosystem.

Cave Use by Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata) in Heavy Snowfall Area, Central Japan

“…) ；南アフリカの チャクマヒヒ (Gow, 1973) ；アフリカ西部の セ ネ ガ ル の サ バ ン ナ チ ン パ ン ジ ー Pan troglodytes (Pruetz, 2007) と チ ャ ク マ ヒ ヒ Papio papio (McGrew et al, 2003) ；ケニア西部 エルゴン山のキトゥム洞窟 Kitum Cave での 3 種の霊長類 (アヌビスヒヒ Papio anubis， ブルー モンキー Cercopithecus mitis，アビシニアコロ ブ ス Colobus guereza) (Redmond & Shoshani, 1987) ； ベ ト ナ ム の デ ラ ク ー ル ラ ン グ ー ル Trachypithecus delacouri (Rogers, 2002) ； 中 国 南部の広西壮(チワン)族自治区のシロアタ マ ク ロ リ ー フ モ ン キ ー Trachypithecus leucocephalus (Huang et al, 2003) ；中国南部の 貴 州 省 の フ ラ ン ソ ワ ル ト ン Trachypithecus francoisi (Grueter & Wei, 2006 Here we report the intensive use of caves by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in a heavy snow fall area (Kurobe Gorge, eastern Toyama Prefecture) in central Japan based on the occurrence of abundant feces found within the Saru-ana Cave (a limestone cave). The Kanetsuri area where this study was conducted is located along the middle reaches of Kurobe Gorge, and is one of the heavy snow fall areas in Japan, where snowfall cover ranges in depth from 2 to 3 meters in winter.…”

Speleogenesis of the Mount Elgon elephant caves, Kenya

“…It was noted that many caves seem to have multiple names, and that names given in previous literature may not correspond with caves of the same name today. Location coordinates are not supplied in the literature, and the only survey published is a rudimentary one of Kitum Cave (Sutcliffe, 1973, in which the cave is misnamed; Redmond and Shoshani, 1987).…”

“…In many cases, the collapse is very recent, the slabs on the floor being only slightly fractured and all the fracture surfaces still fresh and unweathered. The most recent collapse in the Kitum Cave main chamber is known to have occurred in 1982, when a large section fell, killing at least one elephant (Redmond and Shoshani, 1987). Exploration of the less accessible parts of the caves, beyond the collapse blocks and under the deep undercuts of the extremities, revealed that the base of most of the cave walls (at least those not obscured by collapse) is in the green clay unit.…”

“…Geophagy is obviously a common activity in the Mount Elgon caves. In addition to the elephants, a variety of animals uses the cave, including buffalo, bushbuck, rock hyrax, leopard, hyena, and primates (Redmond and Shoshani, 1987;Redmond, 1982Redmond, , 1992Bowell et al, 1996). The evidence of elephant tusking of the walls, both recent and old, is clear.…”

“…Sutcliffe (1973) described the evidence for mining by the El Kony people in some of the caves, but, noting that at least one cave channels an active stream, presumed that the caves were naturally formed prior to use by animals, and only modified by both human and animal mining activity. Beginning in the early 1980s, Redmond (Redmond, 1982;Redmond and Shoshani, 1987) pioneered a program of study focusing on the use of the Mount Elgon caves by elephants, concluding that at least Kitum cave was largely formed by elephants excavating the walls for their salt content (Redmond, 1992). A geochemical study provided additional useful data (Bowell et al, 1996), but left the issue of the quantitative contribution of geophagous elephants unresolved.…”