Scientific Publications

Free-ranging African elephants Loxodonta africana use their front feet frequently during the process of foraging and this could be the reason for the high prevalence of physical injuries to these parts of the body.

The unique wildlife of the Ewaso Nyiro and valuable services that the ecosystem provides for humans (e.g., clean water and productive grasslands) cannot be conserved by working solely on traditional conservation strongholds such as the national reserves a

Unlike the smaller and more vulnerable mammals, African elephants have relatively few predators that threaten their survival. 

A programme to monitor elephant mortality was agreed by the CITES parties in 1997.

Tanzania and Zambia are petitioning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to “downlist” the conservation status of their elephants to allow sale of stockpiled ivory.

Sexual activity in mature male African elephants is predominantly associated with the occurrence of musth, a state or condition which refers to a set of physical, physiological and behavioral characteristics, including an elevation in androgen levels.

The conceptual origin of this DPhil thesis was based on one foundation publication by Vollrath and Douglas-Hamilton (2002a) “African bees to control African elephants”.

Understanding and accurately predicting the spatial patterns of habitat use by organisms is important for ecological research, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. 

High-resolution animal location data are increasingly available, requiring analytical approaches and statistical tools that can accommodate the temporal structure and transient dynamics (non-stationarity) inherent in natural systems.

Hierarchical properties characterize elephant fission–fusion social organization whereby stable groups of individuals coalesce into higher order groups or split in a predictable manner.