Media Release: 2/9/2003

The existence of elephant "movement corridors." Could southern African elephants be creating their own solution to "overpopulation?"

Environmentalist and author Gareth Patterson, known for his work with the African lion, and who is currently undertaking research on the Knysna elephants, believes that elephants in many parts of southern Africa are moving beyond the boundaries of protected areas and are utilising former rangelands that they have been absent from for decades. This has important implications with regards to current concerns of overpopulation in certain southern African national parks and game reserves.

In portions of southern Africa, it seems that elephants are once again utilising what can be termed "ancestral rangelands," corridors of wild land outside the protected areas. If these corridors can be identified, monitored, and protected, this could avert pressure of elephant numbers in high density national parks and game reserves.These movement corridors could represent the key to a completely new approach to the management of elephant, a non-lethal management which could deem the use of culling as totally unnecessary, says Patterson.

Patterson feels that the fact that elephants are ranging in corridors beyond the boundaries of national parks is influenced by the present lower levels of ivory poaching compared to devastating years of 1970's and 1980's. Despite this though, Patterson warns that instability arising in the continent can ignite ivory poaching.Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for example, has recently resulted in a disturbing up swing of ivory poaching in that country. A decade and a half ago ivory poaching was rife throughout much of Africa. Ivory poaching reduced Africa's elephant population from 1.3 million in 1979, to around 600,000 in 1989. The effect of the 1989 Appendix 1 listing of the African elephant by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) dramatically impacted on poaching, ivory prices, and the ivory market. Public awareness about the slaughter of elephants made the purchase of ivory socially unacceptable in most parts of the world.

Patterson says, "Elephants are highly intelligent animals, and now it seems are increasingly walking again upon old migration routes. I feel that they are doing so in part, because of relatively low poaching levels in recent years compared to the past .It is important that we should never forget that in the 1980's an estimated 70,000 elephants were slaughtered each year in Africa by ivory poachers. If poaching levels hopefully remain low, increasingly elephants will utilise their former rangelands beyond the boundaries of protected reserves"

Four years ago, Patterson undertook an independent survey to determine the range of the Tuli Block elephants in Botswana, elephants which, at the time, were thought to be an overpopulated "island" population.The results of this survey surprised many conservationists. Patterson discovered that since the early 1990's, Tuli elephants have been increasingly moving along corridors of land, (often along river courses) vast distances from the Tuli Block private game reserves.

"The northern movement indicated that there could even be an overlap of range with elephants of Hwange origin in Zimbabwe. Eastwards, there seemed to be overlap of movement with elephants of Gona-Re-Zhou origin along the Limpopo river, towards the northern portion of the Kruger National Park. To the south-west, movement of Tuli elephants was found some 100 km's from the western boundary of the main protected areas,"' says Patterson.

Other researchers have also been reporting elephants utilising corridors of land outside National Parks and game reserves. For example, Iain Douglas-Hamilton's satellite tracking of elephants in Kenya has also illustrated the existence and importance of movement corridors between protected areas in that country as well.

Joseph Matlhare, director of national parks and wildlife in Botswana recently stated, with regards to that countries current revision of their elephant management plan,"We are looking at all options, particularly corridors that elephants might use to move between countries."

The most dramatic evidence of elephants re-colonising on corridors, former rangelands, was discovered two years ago in previously war-torn Eritrea.Thought to have been extinct for almost forty years, elephants have re-colonised potions of their former range in the south-west of the country. Bearing in mind the famine,drought,and the ravages of a thirty-year civil war, the region has endured, these findings about the elephants are incredible. It has been described as "One of the most remarkable stories of contemporary African conservation-the survival, against considerable odds, of the continents second most northerly elephants" (Elephantine Miracle, BBC Wildlife Magazine July 2003.) According to researchers in Eritrea, it is thought that about 100 elephants have re-colonised the former rangelands.

In India the concept of elephant corridors is well-known, and corridors there are seen as vital to elephant conservation.There has been deterioration (and in some cases total disappearance) of certain corridors in India that formerly allowed movement of wildlife between protected areas. In 1999 the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) initiated The Wild Lands Programme to focus on identifying and listing all elephant corridors in India, as well as determining the legal status of the land in which the corridors exist.These are some of the steps taken in India to protect the elephant migration corridors.

Patterson says of movement corridors, "Here in southern Africa, if the cross-border elephant corridors can identified and monitored, this not only would allow movement of elephants between protected areas, but also, importantly allow a gene flow to maintain genetic diversity in previously fragmented elephant populations. These corridors could also allow elephants to re-colonise portions of their former range, where due to past civil wars and high levels of ivory poaching, they have been absent from for many years. I think the recognition that today elephants are once again walking old migration routes, which takes them across our man-made boundaries, calls for us to approach the management of southern African elephants in a holistic manner and this in turn, could present some exciting opportunities. For example, if the elephant corridors can be identified, and protected, a new form of community-based eco-tourism could emerge. Local communities living near or in these corridors could benefit from the very presence of the elephants.There needs though, to be much important communication and consultation with these communities.The issue of elephant-human conflict for example, will have to be addressed by all relevant parties, but with innovated planning, a exciting win-win situation could be created for humans and elephants in these corridors.Imagine the eco-tourism possibilities,on the ancient pathways of the elephants, the oldest roads in Africa."

Of South Africa's elephant population, Patterson states, "South Africa's elephant population presents more difficult challenges with regards to movement corridors because unlike in the case of the majority of reserves in the rest of southern African, these are artificially contained, fenced, elephant populations. Despite this artificial situation though, with careful planning, corridors in turn could be opened up and created between certain of the fragmented elephant populations in South Africa, and these corridors could, in turn, be linked to the greater, cross-border, southern African complex of movement corridors. Additionally and importantly, corridors might not only be a necessity for South Africa's elephants, but also for a myriad of other species as well.With regards to South Africa's fragmented and fenced parks and game reserves, the question has to be raised, "On the basis of biological insights, are South Africa' reserve's themselves too scattered, separated and too small too maintain necessary genetic diversity of wildlife species across the board? Should South Africa not only be removing fences and creating corridors between protected areas for the sake of elephant management, but also for the long term health and conservation of many other species?'

For the past two and a half years, Patterson has been learning about the southern-most elephants in the world, the Knysna elephants. It seems that these elephants too, have been on the move.

"For a long time, it was generally thought that the last Knysna elephants were confined to a relatively small area of the forests. I have learnt that in fact, these elephants roam and utilise mountain fynbos areas, as well as other areas outside the forests.Their range is known to be much larger than previously thought," remarked Patterson.

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