header: African Elephant
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line Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797)

CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES (numbered projects are WWF projects)

African Elephant Action Plan:2 In 1990, a Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for African Elephants and Rhinos was completed by the AERSG. The objectives for elephants focus on four areas of action: using political pressure to influence government policy in nations that illegally import or export ivory; assessment of the impact of the illegal trade within Africa, and analysis of the ivory quota system and its effectiveness; identification of priority areas for action, (including monitoring and surveys); providing support for administration and law enforcement. WWF has been supporting the work of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group since 1982 (Project 9F0036). Project 9F0062: African Elephant Emergency Fund is a small discretionary fund set up to address urgent conservation actions when they arise. WWF is also supporting regional TRAFFIC offices which monitor the illegal trade in ivory through Project 9F0070: TRAFFIC East and Southern Africa. A follow-up study of the effects of the 1990 ivory ban was published in 1995: Project 9F0085: Assessment of the Impact of the Ivory Ban on Elephant Poaching in Africa II. Project 9F0089: Programme Officer, Species and Protected Areas supports a programme officer based in Nairobi to identify conservation needs for threatened species such as rhinos and elephants.

African Elephant Database (AED):13 During 1986 the AED project was initiated at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi and is intended to provide a comprehensive picture of elephant numbers and distribution throughout Africa. The AED uses data from questionnaires, field surveys and interviews stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Database publications are regularly produced, giving updated population estimates and distribution maps.

Cameroon: Efforts are continuing to establish a tri-national protected area in the forests of southeast Cameroon which are threatened by commercial timber extraction. Project CM0019: Integrated Plan for Regional Forest Elephant Conservation, Project CM0027: Conservation in the Boumba Bek area and Project CM0852 (WWF-US) Regional Forest development in Southeast Cameroon are focussed on elephants. Project CM0029: Emergency Action for Elephant Monitoring and Control in Northern Cameroon seeks to address problems caused by crop-raiding elephants in the Kaele region. It includes aerial surveys and monitoring of radio-collared elephants. "Problem" elephants are also the focus of Project CM0030: Monitoring Elephant Populations in Cameroon and Chad which will conduct surveys of elephant movements and numbers, and test various deterrents to prevent crop-raiding. Project CM0038: Development of a National Elephant Management Plan will follow up on a workshop held in Cameroon in 1995 by drawing up management plans for Cameroon's elephants.

Central African Republic: The Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve and the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park are situated in the last undisturbed lowland rainforests in CAR and are home to a wide variety of species including the forest elephant. Project CF0005: Conservation and Development in the Tropical Forests of SW CAR is concerned with developing management policies for the National Park and its buffer zone. In eastern CAR, WWF-US has initiated a programme modelled on the Dzanga-Sangha approach in a 10,000 sq. km. forest (Project CF0851: Integrated Conservation and Development in Bangassou Dense Forest).

Cote d'Ivoire: Conservation and Development of Tai NP (Project CI0004).

Gabon:21 The tropical forests of Gabon are thought to support 61,000 to 62,000 elephants - believed to be Africa's largest undisturbed population.13 The country retains large areas of relatively unmodified habitat. As revenues from oil (the principal export) fall, so pressure on the forest and its elephants is expected to grow. A five-year integrated development programme, under the name 'Conservation before the Crisis', is in operation. It aims to develop a network of protected areas and survey the elephant population. Other plans include development of sustainable forest industries to build local support for conservation, and training of local people as game guards. WWF is supporting the Gamba Protected Area Complex: Project GA0007. Crop raiding elephants are the focus of Project GA0012: The Impact of Elephants and other Wildlife on Agriculture which seeks to reduce conflict between man and elephants in agricultural areas.

Burkina Faso:3 Burkina Faso is estimated to have the largest elephant population in West Africa: about 2,000 animals. In 1979 the Nazinga Game Ranch was established, which attempts to manage free-ranging wildlife species on a sustainable yield basis, offering both protection for wildlife and a source of protein, revenue and other amenities to local people. Components of the programme, which have been self-supporting since 1990, include game cropping, local employment, tourism and anti-poaching measures.

Zimbabwe:14,15,24 In Omay, Nyaminyami District, on the southern shores of Lake Kariba, in excess of 20,000 inhabitants share Omay Communal Land (3,000 km2), with some 2,000 elephants. The elephants are a major source of conflict between people and wildlife in the area largely on account of damage inflicted upon crops and property and injury or death to human life. Management through the CAMPFIRE programme aims to resolve this conflict, combining elephant control, sustainable trophy hunting, wildlife tourism, land zonation and the development of local perception of the potential economic value of elephants. WWF-Projects ZW0007: Multispecies Animal Production Systems and ZW0022 Resource Management Support to CAMPFIRE.

Kenya: Most elephants are now confined to National Parks and Reserves where protection means that their populations are increasing. Project KE0079: Effects of Increasing Confinement on Elephant Habitat Interactions seeks to find out how increasing elephant numbers are affecting their habitat. Fertility control project:12 In some areas of Kenya, conservation methods have resulted in an increase in elephant populations to the extent that local habitat destruction has become significant. The Kenya Wildlife Service is opposed to the culling of elephants and a system of elephant fertility control using steroid hormones is being developed to remove the need for culling. Research is continuing into administration techniques. The Laikipia Elephant Project:16,17 One of the largest elephant populations in Kenya lives for much of the year on private land in Laikipia District, possibly to gain greater security from poaching. As ranches are sold for small-scale farming, human-elephant conflicts are developing on farmland adjoining the ranches. The WWF project aimed to reduce this conflict. An essential step has been to gain information on elephant movements; both satellite and radio-tracking have been employed in one of the most extensive studies of a migratory elephant population in Africa. These investigations have the potential to greatly improve the accuracy of elephant surveys, and population estimates. Construction of electric fences in order to deter elephants from entering arable areas to further reduce conflict has been investigated.25

Malawi: The Malawi Dept. of National parks and Wildlife serves as technical advisor to southern African countries on wildlife matters. Project MW0013: Support to SADC Wildlife Sector Coordination Unit is supporting this function.

Namibia: Project NA0004: Community Game Guards and Rural Community Development is helping prevent poaching in the Kaokoveld and Damaraland region of northern Namibia by training local people as Game Guards and assisting them in benefiting from tourism.

Nigeria: The Nigerian Conservation Foundation, a WWF affiliate, is helping protect the Okumu Nature Sanctuary in southwest Nigeria which is home to forest elephant (Project NG0009: Protection of Okumu Nature Sanctuary, Edo State).


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