Nationwide abundance and distribution of African forest elephants across Gabon using non-invasive SNP genotyping

Laguardia, A.; Bourgeois, Stéphanie; Strindberg, Samantha; Gobush, Kathleen S.; Abitsi, Gaspard; Ateme, H.G. Bikang Bi; Ebouta, F.; Fay, J. Michael; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M.; Maisels, Fiona; Daouda, E.L.F. Simira Banga; White, Lee; Stokes, Emma J.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01894

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Even at this local scale it is clear that caution must be exercised in generalizing results from individual elephants to broader mechanisms of human–elephant interactions without collaring larger numbers of both sexes. The majority of forest elephant collaring initiatives to date have focused on protected areas, often far from human settlements (Beirne et al, 2020), but forest elephants occur across almost all of Gabon (Laguardia et al, 2021), and 85% of potential forest and savannah elephant habitat across Africa lies outside current protected areas (Wall et al, 2021). Consequently, we recommend that future collaring targets elephants that might specialize in foraging in and around villages outside protected areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…water, trees, fruits and leaves; Kharel, 1997; Buchholtz et al, 2019). Human–elephant interactions are common around villages in Gabon, whose estimated c. 95,000 forest elephants represent over half of the remaining global population (Maisels et al, 2013; Laguardia et al, 2021). Pervasive foraging by forest elephants in crops (often referred to as crop raiding) threatens the food security of local people and increases their antipathy towards conservation efforts (Walker, 2010; Ngama et al, 2016; Terada et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research suggests that forest elephant movements are strongly predicted by the presence of human settlements and associated activities (Blake et al, 2008; Molina-Vacas et al, 2020), and it is only within such human-disturbed habitat that other environmental conditions start to influence elephant spatial patterns (Wall et al, 2021). However, in Gabon, human pressure and protected areas are not the strongest factors predicting forest elephant abundance, as elephant population densities are high throughout the country (Laguardia et al, 2021). Furthermore, GPS collaring of 96 elephants across Gabon showed that individuals show movement behaviours that cannot be explained by environmental factors alone, and analysing trends in the movements of specific individuals could help identify so-called problem elephants that feed on crops (Beirne et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

Mbamy,

Beirne,

Froese

et al. 2023

Oryx

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Feeding by Critically Endangered forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis in rural plantations is a conservation issue in Gabon, but studies characterizing drivers of spatiotemporal patterns of human–elephant interactions remain sparse, hindering mitigation. In this study, we use GPS tracking data from two elephants to characterize temporal patterns of village visitation, and surveys of 101 local farmers across seven villages to determine local patterns of crop planting and harvesting and of human–elephant interactions. Local farmers' perceptions of elephant visitations and empirical data on such visits were positively correlated with local crop availability. However, considering the two elephants separately revealed that the correlations were driven by just one individual, with the second elephant showing weak links between crop availability and visitation, highlighting the challenges in reliably predicting human–wildlife interactions. The most popular local perceptions of the drivers of elephant visitation were the presence of crops (53% of responses) and logging (39%). The most popular proposed interventions were letting the government find a solution (32%), killing problem elephants (30%) and providing compensation for lost crops (22%). We discuss the potential feasibility and efficacy of the proposed solutions in the context of human–elephant interactions. Future research efforts should focus on collaring elephants in zones with high potential for negative human–elephant interaction and expanding perception surveys to villages with contrasting ecological contexts (e.g. with and without logging in their surrounding forests), as these could influence local perceptions of conflicts and conservation initiatives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

Mbamy,

Beirne,

Froese

et al. 2023

Oryx

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show abstract

“…We also demonstrate the importance of excessive sampling to account for both bias and precision when arriving at suggestions of optimal sample sizes. For example, recently, a faecal DNA‐based SE‐SECR approach was developed using only precision as a measure to draw inference on forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis) density (Laguardia, Gobush, et al, 2021 ), which was then applied nationally using a sampling design to estimate elephant abundance across Gabon (Laguardia, Bourgeois, et al, 2021 ). Results from our subsampling exercise indicate that this estimate may be biased high.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations on effort, precision and accuracy for long‐term monitoring of African lions (Panthera leo), when using Bayesian spatial explicit capture–recapture models, in fenced protected areas

Ball

Somers

Elliot

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Intensive management is frequently required in fenced wildlife areas to reduce deleterious effects of isolation. Decisions on how best to manage such wildlife are ideally informed by regular and reliable estimates of spatiotemporal fluctuations in population size and structure. However, even in small, fenced areas, it is difficult and costly to regularly monitor key species using advanced methods. This is particularly the case for large carnivores, which typically occur at low density and are elusive yet are central to management decision‐making due to their top–down effects in ecosystems and attracting tourism. In this study, we aimed to provide robust estimates of population parameters for African lions (Panthera leo) and use the data to inform a resource‐efficient long‐term monitoring programme. To achieve this, we used unstructured spatial sampling to collect data on lions in Pilanesberg National Park, a small (~550 km2) fenced protected area in South Africa. We used Bayesian spatial capture–recapture models to estimate density, abundance, sex ratio and home range size of lions over the age of 1 year. Finally, to provide guidance on resource requirements for regular monitoring, we rarefied our empirical data set incrementally and analysed the subsets. Lion density was estimated to be 8.8 per 100 km2 (posterior SD = 0.6), which was lower than anticipated by park management. Sex ratio was estimated close to parity (0.9♀:1♂), consistent with emerging evidence in fenced lion populations, yet discordant with unfenced populations, which are usually ~2♀:1♂ in healthy, source populations. Our rarefied data suggest that a minimum of 4000 km search effort needs to be invested in future monitoring to obtain accurate and precise estimates, while assuming similar detection rates. This study demonstrates an important utility of Bayesian spatial explicit capture–recapture methods for obtaining robust estimates of lion densities and other important parameters in fence‐protected areas to inform decision‐making.

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“…Whilst large forest elephant populations have been observed in protected areas (Turkalo et al 2013, Breuer et al 2021), recent studies also highlight the persistence of some important populations outside these areas (Laguardia et al 2021, Wall et al 2021), notably in logged forests (Clark et al 2009, Stokes et al 2010, Maisels et al 2013, Fonteyn et al 2020). Logged forests constitute 54 million hectares, corresponding to 27% of the central African rainforest area (Eba'a Atyi et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenging coexistence of forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and timber concessions in central Africa

et al. 2022

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Nationwide abundance and distribution of African forest elephants across Gabon using non-invasive SNP genotyping

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

Linking crop availability, forest elephant visitation and perceptions of human–elephant interactions in villages bordering Ivindo National Park, Gabon

Considerations on effort, precision and accuracy for long‐term monitoring of African lions (Panthera leo), when using Bayesian spatial explicit capture–recapture models, in fenced protected areas

The challenging coexistence of forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and timber concessions in central Africa

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