The devastating impacts of a recent surge in ivory poaching have been chronicled in detail by new research on one of Africa’s best-studied elephant populations.

Almost a thousand elephants in Samburu, Northern Kenya, have been closely monitored over the last decade and a half.  Over the last four years demand for their tusks has disrupted their close-knit society.

The illegal killing of elephants is increasing rapidly across the continent as the price of ivory has soared. Massacres in Central Africa’s National Parks last year are now being echoed elsewhere in Kenya, including a well-publicised incident in Tsavo National Park on January 4th 2013.

Satellite tracking of elephants living near Timbuktu has revealed the secret of their survival in the savage conditions of Mali’s desert.

The elephants of Africa’s northernmost population use over 32,000 square kilometres of the Gourma region in their epic quest for food and water, the largest range ever recorded for the species.

Their circular migration route is also thought to be unique to this population. The findings, published this week in the journal Biological Conservation, have profound implications for efforts to ensure the continued existence of these elephants.

“It’s incredible these elephants have survived. They have a truly stressful life with the lack of water and food, and their giant range reflects that,” said Jake Wall of Save the Elephants, Kenya (also of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver), who led the study.

(Nanyuki, Kenya). On August 10^th, Yao Ming, China’s favourite son, touched ground in Kenya for his first-ever visit on the African continent. Yao is in Kenya to film a feature-length documentary, to experience the beauty and economic importance of wildlife tourism and to learn how this is threatened by the current elephant and rhino poaching crisis, with special support from Virgin Atlantic, Serena Hotels, Elephant Watch Camp, Kicheche Camps and Safarilink.

The Race for Ivory is on

Elephant expert Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton and his team sound the alarm

on highest elephant poaching in Samburu in 14 years

(Nairobi, Kenya) – On Tuesday, July 12th, gunshots were heard near Samburu National Reserve. A few hours later, the KWS rangers who responded immediately to the warning, found a dead elephant. The carcass was that of Khadija, the last mature female elephant from the Swahili Ladies family in Samburu. Khadija leaves behind eight orphans, a story that is becoming way too familiar in northern Kenya. Ironically, Khadija had been treated two weeks earlier for bullet wounds and had survived the attack. This time, she died as she hobbled near the river, with four fresh bullets in her body. By midnight, under the full moon, her tusks had been cut out and the collar she was wearing had been destroyed and buried in the sand.

Beehive fences as effective deterrents for crop-raiding elephants: field trials in nothern KenyaLucy E. King, Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Fritz Vollrath.
African Journal of Ecology. doi: 10.1111/j.1 365-2028.2011.01275.x
2011

Increasing elephant populations in Kenya since 1989 have been widely praised as a conservation success story. However, where elephants and agricultural land overlap, incidents of human-elephant conflict are on the increase. Wildlife managers and farmers are now trying different farm-based deterrents to keep elephants out of crops. Here, we present data on the effectiveness of a novel beehive fence deployed in a Turkana community of 62 communally run farms in Kenya. Specifically, 1700m of beehive fences semi-sorrounded the outer boundaries of seventeen farms, and we compared elephant farm invasion events with these and to seventeen neighboring farms whose boundaries were 'protected' only by thorn bush barriers.

We present data from 45 farm invasions, or attempted invasions, recorded over 2 years. Thirteen groups of elephants approached beehive fences and turned away. Of the 32 successful farm invasions, only one bull elephant broke through the beehive fences. These results demonstrate that beehive fences are more effective than thorn bush barriers at deterring elephants and may have a role to play in alleviating farmer-elephant conflict. Additionally, the harvesting of 106kg of honey during the trial period suggests that beehive fences may also improve crop production and enhance rural livelihoods through honey sales.

For the first time, an elephant named Tony walked through a new underpass beneath the Cape to Cairo Highway in Kenya. “This is a major breakthrough for ecosystem conservation in Africa,” says Save the Elephants (STE) founder and CEO Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton. Increasingly, rising human populations isolate elephants and wildlife habitat across the continent. High altitude elephants on Mount Kenya like Tony have a traditional migration route that was cut by increasing human settlement, large-scale wheat farms, and a major highway.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                            June 3, 2010

 

Elephant Expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Receives 2010 Indianapolis Prize

 

WASHINGTON --- Relentless in his lifelong devotion to the elephants’ survival, Save the Elephants founder Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Ph.D., has been named the 2010 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation. In recognition for his lifetime achievements, Dr. Douglas-Hamilton will receive $100,000 and the Lilly Medal at a gala ceremony presented by Cummins Inc. on Sept. 25, 2010, at The Westin Hotel in Indianapolis.

SAVE THE ELEPHANTS PRESS RELEASE
27 March 2010
Elephants have word for ‘bee-ware’

For the first time elephants have been found to produce an alarm call associated with the threat of bees, and have been shown to retreat when a recording of the call is played even when there are no bees around.

A team of scientists from Oxford University, Save the Elephants, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, made the discovery as part of an ongoing study of elephants in Kenya. They report their results in the journal PLoS One.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 13, 2010

Iain Douglas-Hamilton Named Finalist
for the 2010 Indianapolis Prize

Award Celebrates Outstanding Achievement in Animal Conservation

INDIANAPOLIS --- Nothing holds Iain Douglas-Hamilton back. Neither poachers nor a 36-month drought can deter this Save the Elephants director and founder from his work. He patiently, relentlessly counters efforts to kill the African elephant for ivory, while continuing to educate others through his extensive conservation research. Because of his lifelong devotion to the elephants’ survival, Douglas-Hamilton, Ph.D., is one of six finalists contending for the $100,000 Indianapolis Prize.

PRESS RELEASE BY SAVE THE ELEPHANTS

MAY 2009
www.savetheelephants.org

Contact
Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Save the Elephants and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
tel +44 798 140 3918
iain@savetheelephants.org

Jake Wall 
Save the Elephants
tel   +223 7454 6124
tel   +223 6603 5042
walljcg@gmail.com

Vance Martin
WILD
tel 303-442-8811
vance@wild.org

WORST DROUGHT IN 26 YEARS THREATENS SURVIVAL OF LAST DESERT ELEPHANTS IN WEST AFRICA

A group of NGO’s comprising Save the Elephants (STE) and The WILD Foundation (WILD) have been monitoring the last rare desert elephants in Mali in collaboration with the Malian Environment Ministry directorate for conservation - Direction Nationale de la Conservation de la Nature (DNCN). This unique herd of elephants is now in a desperate situation due to a drastic shortage of water, and we are launching an emergency appeal to save them.

The desert elephants of Mali live in the Gourma district to the South East of Timbuktu.  They are the northernmost elephants surviving in Africa, estimated at between 350 and 450 in number. They have adapted to survive in the harsh conditions of the Sahel by migrating long distances in search of water and food but live on the margin of what is ecologically viable.

Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants has been monitoring their range since the mid 1970s. He says

“In the Gourma region of Mali are the last elephants living in the Sahel and they are northernmost in Africa. Their range has shrunk drastically since the 1970’s due to climate change and overstocking of livestock which has degraded the habitat.  These elephants have the longest migration route of any in Africa and move in a counterclockwise circle of about 700 km. At the height of the dry season there are only a handful of shallow lakes left to them until recharged by rains in July and August.”

African forest elephants live in fear of roads which they associate with poachers and death, scientists have discovered. Elephants in central Africa's Congo Basin - where poaching is rampant - have worked out that roads equate to danger.

OL PEJETA, Kenya (AP) — The text message from the elephant flashed across Richard Lesowapir's screen: Kimani was heading for neighboring farms. The huge bull elephant had a long history of raiding villagers' crops during the harvest, sometimes wiping out six months of income at a time. But this time a mobile phone card inserted in his collar sent rangers a text message. Lesowapir, an armed guard and a driver arrived in a jeep bristling with spotlights to frighten Kimani back into the Ol Pejeta conservancy.

The United States is the world's second-largest retail market for elephant ivory products, behind only China, a new study says.
The study, published today by British-based conservation group Care for the Wild International (CWI), makes the claim based on investigations of thousands of retail outlets in 16 American cities between March and December 2006 and March and May 2007.

Recordings of angry bees are enough to send even big, tough African elephants scrambling, a new study says. Strategically placed beehives—either recorded or real—may even prevent elephants from raiding farmers' crops. As some elephant populations in Africa grow larger and more land is cleared for agriculture, elephants are clashing with humans. A few have even trampled farmers. In return, some farmers have killed problem elephants, and support for elephant conservation measures is waning.

At a time when encroaching human development in former wildlife areas has compressed African elephants into ever smaller home ranges and increased levels of human-elephant conflict, a study in Current Biology, suggests that strategically placed beehives might offer a low-tech elephant deterrent and conservation measure.

The buzz of angry bees frightens African elephants into fleeing, according to a study in Kenya that provides evidence this type of sound could help keep the animals from trampling farms and threatening people. Lucy King, a zoologist at Oxford University, who led the study, said on Monday that nearly all the elephants exposed to recordings of angry buzzing bees ran away immediately, in contrast to pachyderms who heard a recording of white noise.

It might seem like the epitome of a David versus Goliath mismatch — up to 12 tonnes of heavily armoured mammal flesh versus a few hundred milligrams of irritating insect. But despite their thick skin and size advantage, elephants turn tail and flee at the sound of a swarm of bees, according to research carried out on the Kenyan savannah.

They're the largest animals on land, but when bees buzz elephants run, causing researchers to wonder if strategically placed beehives might reduce deadly

The death of an elephant has not only moved a team of Oxford zoologists but transformed the way the scientific world thinks of this giant of the African plains

SHOWING compassion and grief are part of what it is to be human. But when these qualities are seen in another species, must we conclude that human beings are not the only beings on the planet?

An elephant has been captured on film as she struggled to help another who lay dying from the effects of a snakebite. The astonishing pictures reveal the depth of compassion the creatures feel for each other.

Scientists at the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya recorded footage of Eleanor as she fell to the ground after being bitten. Another elephant, Grace, was seen calling out in distress and trying desperately to get the stricken elephant to her feet.

An elephant struggles to help another who lies dying from the effects of a snake bite. These astonishing pictures reveal the depth of compassion the creatures feel for each other in their moments of need. Film footage shot by scientists at the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya caught Eleanor as she fell to the ground after being bitten.

African elephants hate climbing hills because it is too costly in terms of energy, a study suggests.  An international team used global positioning system (GPS) satellite tracking to follow the movements of savannah elephants.

Elephants, provervially, never forget. This photograph suggests that they may even remember their dead....

Hannibal must have had a hard job crossing the Alps, according to new research which shows that elephants hate climbing hills. Scientists used global positioning system (GPS) satellite tracking to follow elephants across the African savannah.

Elephants hate walking up slopes and prefer to stick to the flat, according to a study of their movements across the African savannah.

Using global-positioning tracking data, researchers have found that hills are a key influence on elephant movements and land use.

Elephants do their utmost to avoid going uphill, a new satellite-tracking study shows - their finely balanced metabolism may be the reason why. Researchers tracked elephants by satellite and found that the animals avoid travelling up slopes whenever possible. Calculations suggest an explanation for this behaviour: the big beasts would have to spend hours eating to compensate for travelling up even a relatively gentle incline.

Chemical analysis of elephant hair can provide clues about the animal's diet and behaviour, say scientists. Researchers studied wild elephants in Kenya's Samburu National Reserve by tracking the animals with GPS devices and analysing their tail hair.

Lewis had gourmet taste: Whenever the dry season browned grass in his Kenyan sanctuary, he'd abandon the other elephants and race 25 miles to the mountains -- to raid farmers' corn

fields under cover of night.

A foot-long hair plucked from his tail, and GPS technology, tell the story.

Elephant conservation is fraught with difficulty. Though the behemoths are endangered, the land set aside for them is insufficient. When they move beyond their sanctuaries in search of food they inevitably run into trouble, often from farmers trying to protect their crops. A new technique for observing where elephants are going and what they're eating could inform ways to manage them more effectively, and thereby reduce their conflicts with humans.

Elephants roaming the parched plains of Africa's national parks can get up to half their food by risky midnight raids into crop fields, according to scientists who tracked a herd by satellite monitoring. Conservationists working for Save the Elephants Foundation in Kenya hope that by understanding the elephants'
behaviour, they can improve ways of protecting farmers against damage caused by the animals, and in turn protect the elephants from angered farmers. "When an elephant raids a crop field, it can be devastating for a farmer," said
Henrik Rasmussen, a conservationist at Oxford University who took part in the study. "Sometimes the elephants are
spotted and shot in the act."

By analyzing chemicals in tail hair from elephants that wore radio collars, researchers tracked the diet and movements of elephants in Kenya – a method aimed at reducing human-elephant conflicts and determining where to establish sanctuaries to protect the endangered creatures.

In his attempt to conquer the western world in 218 B.C.E., Carthaginian general Hannibal famously lost all but

one of his elephants while crossing the Alps. A new study may explain why: Elephants just don't dig

climbing.

Beehives might keep African elephants off farms, say researchers. The insects could help stop elephants eating crops, and make lucrative honey for farmers.