Poaching lowers elephant path tortuosity: implications for conservation

Abstract

Poaching is the most immediate threat to African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Several continental‐wide surges in poaching have occurred since the latter half of the twentieth century, and the latest surge occurred from 2007 to 2012. The behavioral responses of elephants to poaching risk has not been studied widely because of a lack of high‐resolution movement data collected simultaneously with verified causes of mortality. We managed to collate 2 such datasets from 2004 to 2013. We studied the spatial‐temporal changes in movement behavior of 11 elephants in their core areas. Past studies have focused on elephant movement along corridors. We tested for the effect of poaching risk on their path straightness (i.e., tortuosity) while controlling for other environmental and human activities in the landscape using a set of generalized linear mixed models. To test for temporal variation of tortuosity, we used a time‐series linear model. Elephants turned less frequently while they were in poaching locations and at times with a high level of poaching activity, even though their speed did not change. The variation of tortuosity is a good indicator of differences in poaching risk as perceived by the elephants, which could complement patrol‐based anti‐poaching efforts by wildlife managers, especially in remote, inaccessible landscapes. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society

Differing physiological and behavioral responses to anthropogenic factors between resident and non-resident African elephants at Mpala Ranch, Laikipia County, Kenya

“…The persistence of elephants in human-dominated landscapes raises important questions about the underlying factors motivating spatial behavior, data that could be used to inform on conservation and management planning to mitigate negative human-animal interactions (Lima & Zollner, 1996;Nathan et al, 2008). Foraging resource availability, predation risk, and competition (Fryxell & Sinclair, 1988;Berger, 2004;Polansky, Douglas-Hamilton & Wittemyer, 2013;Hopcraft et al, 2014), and more recently, factors related to health and welfare are increasingly viewed as important to shaping animal distribution and movements (Kyale, Ngene & Maingi, 2011;Goldenberg, Douglas-Hamilton & Wittemyer, 2018;Keigwin et al, 2018;Ihwagi et al, 2019).…”

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

“…The measurement of the straightness of the path taken by the species is done by tortuosity and varies according to the survival tactics adopted by the individuals; in other words, the ability of elephants to detect the danger that surrounds them, like poaching, can be read in their travel restrictions (they tend to reduce tortuosity (turning less)) and it can be an aid to responsible patrols anti-poaching [47].…”

Anthropogenic impact on wildlife resource use: Spatial and temporal shifts in elephants’ access to water

“…Wildlife populations face a variety of challenges, key among them, persisting in a changing environment. With a growing global human footprint, changes such as fragmentation increasingly impact biodiversity and the distribution of wildlife (Fahrig, 2003; Jones et al., 2018; Venter et al., 2016). Where people and wildlife overlap, a range of interactions occur that may influence animals’ behaviour; domesticated livestock and crops, for example, may create attractants for foraging wildlife (Simon & Fortin, 2020), while disruptive human activity and development may cause wildlife to avoid areas (Bird et al., 2004; Jaeger et al., 2005; Shannon et al., 2016).…”