Movement patterns and social dynamics of male African Savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana). Following the steps of giants.

Abstract

Wildlife populations are decreasing all over the globe. Conflicts with humans increase as the wild landscapes shrink. The African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) used to roam in most parts of Africa but only a fraction of the historical numbers remains today. Botswana is home to 130,000 elephants, about 1/3 of the elephants remaining in Africa. Savannah elephants have traditionally made large seasonal migrations for resources, but landscape fragmentation has made these movements much harder. The savannah elephant is an endangered species and even if the social lives of matriarchal families are well-studied, the groups that the bulls may form have been less so. This study aimed to fill some of these gaps and contribute with knowledge about movement patterns and social dynamics of males to better conserve the species and decrease human-wildlife conflicts. Photo identification was used to track individuals in the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Park in Botswana to estimate how many days the bulls stayed inside and outside the park, and how it differed between different age groups and seasons of the year. I also investigated the social dynamics of male associations to increase the knowledge about bull groups. I found that a bull on average stayed for 37 (CI 31-48) days inside the park before leaving the park for 108 (CI 87-138) days. My findings also suggest that the youngest males stayed and left for shorter periods under both the wet and dry seasons compared to the oldest bulls. Both age groups stayed and left for longer periods during the dry season compared to the wet. The research also showed that bull association isn’t random even though most relationships will be short-term. My results indicated that elephant movement generally increased during the wet season and that young bulls in general moved more in and out of the park, increasing their risk of conflict with people living in the surroundings. It also indicated that elephants do have preferred companions, and all these findings should be taken into consideration for the conservation of the species.