Introduction
Location Map
Base Map
Database Schema
Conventions
GIS Analyses
Flowchart
GIS Concepts
Results
Conclusion
References
People versus elephants:
How to slow the decline of elephant populations in
Southern Nation Nationalities People (SNNP) Regional State, Ethiopia
Michelle Kinseth & Megan Lowery
Elephants and Ethiopia, A History
Elephants
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest terrestrial animal reaching 3-3.5 meters in height, and weighing between 6800-9980 kg. The elephant is characterized by its trunk and large ears, which radiate excess heat. The trunk is the main organ of smell and touch, but is also used for eating, drinking, bathing, and communication. Elephants have a heavy, flexible layer of gray-brown skin. Both the males and females carry tusks. The elephant can live 65-70 years with individuals in captivity reaching more than 80 years of age.
Elephant herds are made up of related females, directed by the eldest female, or the matriarch. The female elephant determines when she is ready to mate and emits infrasounds that attract males from miles away. The elephant has the longest gestation period (22 months) of any mammal. The female gives birth to a calf weighing more than 100 kg and a calf will continue to feed on its mother's milk until the age of five. A female may give birth every two to nine years and can remain fertile until 55-60 years of age. The elephant is an extemely intelligent animal which may be due to the large size of their brain. Elephants have an amazing ability
for reasoning and learning. The matriarch determines the herd's routes and shows the herd where to find water
(http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mammals/africanelephant.htm). The herd learns and memorizes the locations of water sources from the matriarch. An elephant family usually consists
of about 10 individuals, although several families may join together forming a clan of upwards of 60 members (Ademasu 2006).
Due to the large size of the African bush elephant, the species lacks natural predators. However, calves are susceptible to lion, leopard, and sometimes even hyena attacks. Humans are the primary predator to this animal, and predation, along with drought, are the main causes for calf mortality.
Elephants in Ethiopia
The African elephant and its close relative, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), originated in Sub-Saharan Africa in the early Pleistocene (Ademasu 2006). Until recently, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) was a subspecies of the African elephant. DNA testing shows that these are two extant species (http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mammals/africanelephant.htm). African bush elephants are larger in size, have less body hair, and more triangular ears than the African forest elephant. The forest elephant also lives in much smaller family units than the bush elephant.
Up until the turn of the 19th century, the African elephant was widely distributed throughout Ethiopia. Since then poaching of elephants for ivory and the expanding human population has drastically reduced the range and population numbers of the species. Elephants became extinct in the central Rift Valley and the valley of the Awash River of Ethiopia between 1900 and 1934 (Ademasu 2006). Remnent herds pushed to lower altitude arid areas around the periphery of the country. A few fragmented populations remain in the mid and high altitude regions of western Ethiopia. Remaining populations are restricted primarily to protected areas (Ademasu 2006).
In 1989, the African elephant was placed under protection via the Conservation of International Trade in Endangered Flora and Fauna (CITES; Ademasu 2006). The protection under CITES outlawed hunting of the African elephant and ivory trading. However, poaching is still common. Since 1899, the ivory trade in Ethiopia has been a major industry, with Ethiopia recognized as having the largest unregulated ivory market in East Africa (Ademasu 2006). In addition to poaching impacts, the range of the African bush elephant has been drastically reduced due to the expansion of human settlements into elephant ranges. Since 1986, the African Elephant Database (AED) has stored data regarding population estimates as well as geographic information (Ademasu 2006). However, continuous monitoring of elephant populations in the country have not occurred.
Within Ethiopia there are 11 national parks, three sanctuaries, eight game reserves, and 18 controlled hunting areas (Ademasu 2006). These protected areas cover approximately 175,000 km2 which is about 16% of the country (Ademasu 2006). Most elephants in Ethiopia reside within these protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserves, and controlled hunting areas).
The Southern Nation Nationalities People Regional State (SNNP) is in the southern quadrate of the country and is one of the few Regional States with diverse biological resources. The area is bordered by Kenya to the south and Sudan to the southwest. The estimated human population of this regional state is 14 million (Ademasu 2006). The African elephant is found in three national parks, Omo, Mago, and Chebera-Churchura (also known as Amaya Bonga National Park, it was established in 2004 and is not represented in the table), as well as two wildlife reserves and three controlled hunting areas (Ademasu 2006). The SNNP holds more than 50 percent of the total elephant population of the country (Ademasu 2006).
Lack of awareness, lack of political will to improve the management and protection of protected areas, deep rooted political and civil unrest, free trade of ivory, lack of proper land use and wildlife policy, and other socio-economic problems cast a shadow over the conservation and management of the elephant population in Ethiopia (Ademasu 2006).
Elephants, People, and Protected Areas
Elephants and People in SNNP
Within the SNNP there are two national parks that have consistantly sustained elephant populations; Mago and Omo National Parks. These two parks are connected by Tama Wildlife Reserve. In recent years the populations in these parks have shown a steady decline in numbers, primarily due to the presence of people and their related activities. Though these parks are considered protected areas, they are readily used by the surrounding villages and settlements for illegal hunting and for honey collection in the dry season when agriculture is not a priority. The population decline observed in Mago has been referenced (Demeke 2000 & Demeke and Bekele 2003) while elephants have all but abandoned Omo National Park because of the persistant human presence (Demeke 2003). No long-term elephant data was available for Chebera-Churchura National Park (CCNP) due to its very recent establishment in 2004. Therefore the CCNP will not be included in any further analysis, though it should be considered an important protected area for the African bush elephant.
People and their activities in and around the protected areas of SNNP are one of the reasons there has been a decline in elephant populations over the years. Poaching of elephants and many other wildlife species in this region is particularly high. Other human activities like cattle grazing, agriculture, and honey collection bring people in to direct conflict with elephants, with competition for resources and space the primary conflict.
Elephants are destructive to agriculture, and in addition to the illegal ivory trade, crop damage is another primary reason that many elephants are poached. Research has shown that elephants tend to stay at least 4-5 km away from settlements (Harris 2008), but as the settlements expand into elephant habitat, the available land left for the elephant is directly impacted, thus perpetuating the conflict cycle.
Ecotourism is becoming a larger industry within Ethiopia. The Babille Elephant Sanctuary in the Oromia region has seen a steady increase in tourists interested in viewing elephants. This is a strond incentive for the people of the SNNP State to provide a larger draw for tourists to Mago and Omo National Parks.
Elephants and Habitat
Elephants, being the largest land dwelling animal species, require much forage and water for survival. The African elephant can spend up to 16 hours each day eating and drinking. African elephants are herbivores, but the forage they consume largely depends on their habitat. A typical elephant requires five percent of its body weight in digested vegetation. However, they only digest about 40% of the food that they intake (http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mammals/africanelephant.htm). These animals ingest an average of 225 kg of vegetation and drink more than 190 liters daily. Elephants are considered ecosystem architects because their foraging activities can cause severe landscape changes.
Elephants inhabit many habitats, primarily the semi-arid brush, riverine forests, and savannah (Demeke 2000). Due to abundant forage and water, elephants are more likely to choose places near a water source. They will travel less distance to reach water in the wet season, while during the dry season they are more likely to come into direct conflict with people as they travel further distances to find water. Proximity to water sources is very important to the distribution of elephants .
Putting it all together...
The current management status of the national parks in Ethiopia is weak at best. The land is protected, however a lack of funding, personnel, and values for protection of wildlife by the locals all contribute to the blatant poaching that has continued to occur. The management of Mago and Omo National Parks, as well as the surrounding controlled hunting grounds, falls to the SNNP government.
Mago National Park is an area large enough and with enough forage and water to support up to an estimated 4,400 elephants (Demeke and Bekele 2003). With current estimates below 300 individuals there is potentially more then enough room for improvement in management of the park, the elephants, and most importantly, the people in the area.
We propose, through GIS Analyses, to provide the SNNP government with optional areas that can be incorporated into the current national park system to increase available elephant habitat and potentially increase ecotourism as it relates to elephant and other wildlife viewing activities.
