DEATH OF WILD ELEPHANT IN AFRICA A BLOW TO SCIENTISTS

San Diego Zoo Conservation Study Loses Elephant to Human Conflict

BOTSWANA - In January 2009, the San Diego Zoo became involved in a multi-country conservation program that aims to reduce human/elephant conflict by monitoring elephant movements and finding safe corridors in a 50,000-square-mile area. Sadly, one of the three elephant ambassadors for this project seems to have fallen victim to the very thing the conservation effort hopes to resolve.

"We hope this tragic incident will bring attention to the difficult situation we live with, need to work with and overcome in Africa," said Michael Chase, Ph.D., the San Diego Zoo's Henderson Endowed Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow. "Human/elephant conflict is an extremely complex situation that threatens African elephants throughout the continent."

Chase, the San Diego Zoo's scientist leading the study in partnership with Elephants Without Borders, had placed a GPS collar on Kachikau (catch-ee-cow), a 30-year-old female elephant with a 2-year-old calf, as part of a unique program that monitors elephant ranging patterns both in and out of national parks, across international boundaries encompassing Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe and in habitats ranging from desert to lush riverine environments.

It was during one of these international treks that Kachikau was killed. As the matriarch of her 8-member herd, she made key decisions about where the family moved. She appears to have been shot after leading the herd out of Botswana, where elephants number 150,000 strong but make up almost 30 percent of Africa's elephant population. With so many elephants squeezed into Botswana, the need to identify safe corridors for elephants to disperse into neighboring countries is critical. Trying to harmonize the needs of elephants and people is an urgent conservation dilemma.

The Zoo and Elephants Without Borders have started an ambitious new program to try to address this increasing conflict and avoid retaliatory killings of elephants suspected of damaging crops or properties. The Elephant Conservation and Community Outreach Farming project will experiment with several strategies that reduce this issue. The farm will be used to train local farmers in mitigating human/elephant conflict, thereby improving food security to farmers threatened by elephants raiding crops.

Kachikau's death coincides with the peak elephant crop-raiding season. Chase and his team found Kachikau four days after her satellite signal showed she had stopped moving. People may shoot haphazardly at elephants to scare them away from their properties, even if they are not raiding crops. Many elephants have been injured and killed under these circumstances.

Chase was unable to locate Kachikau's calf or the rest of the herd. They may never be seen again, since no other elephant in the group has a GPS collar. According to Chase, Kachikau kept her calf close to her side and was an attentive mother. The calf's future is unknown, but at 2 years old, it has a chance of surviving in the herd. Elephants begin to wean from their mother's milk at this age, but the calf will depend on its aunts to help it transition quickly to a diet of vegetation and water.

The death of Kachikau is heartbreaking for Chase and his team, as well as people who have joined Project Elephant Footprint, a Zoo program designed to help the public get involved in elephant conservation. Kachikau was one of the three elephant ambassadors highlighted, and sponsors were able to track her movements.

The conflict between humans and elephants in Africa is difficult because there are people trying to survive and protect their resources while elephants are also trying to live. Chase hopes the work he and Elephants Without Borders are conducting will mitigate human/elephant conflicts in Africa by finding ways to help educate individuals about elephant behavior and creating deterrents to keep the elephants safely out of people's way.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.