Diet and distribution of elephant in the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique

Abstract

The distribution and diet of the elephants of the Maputo Elephant Reserve were studied using dung counts, satellite tracking and faecal analysis. The results were compared with earlier data from before the civil war in Mozambique. The elephant population decreased during the civil war, but 180 animals still remain. Earlier studies described the elephants as preferring the grass plains. Currently, the elephants prefer the dense forest patches over the high quality forage found in the grass plains. Water salinity a¡ected distribution; elephant dung piles were found closer to fresh water in the dry season. A total of 95 di¡erent plant species were identi-¢ed in the faeces. The percentage of grass was relatively low compared with other studies, increasing at the beginning of the rainy season. At the end of the dry season, elephants concentrated on the few available browse species with young leaves, but generally preferred grass species to browse species. Diet composition was mainly a¡ected by season and less by habitat. The elephants have changed their habitat preference in reaction to poaching, and probably increased the contribution of browse species in the diet. The presence of forest patches has been vital for the survival of the elephants.Re¨sumeÖ n a e¨tudie¨la distribution et le re¨gime alimentaire des e¨le¨phants de la Re¨serve a¨e¨le¨phants de Maputo en utilisant le comptages des crottes, le tracking par satellite et l'analyse des excre¨ments. On a compare¨les re¨sultats avec des donne¨es recueillies avant la guerre civile au Mozambique. La population d'e¨le¨phants a baisse¨pendant la guerre civile mais il reste 180 animaux. Des e¨tudes ante¨rieures montraient que les e¨le¨phants pre¨fe¨raient les plaines herbeuses. Actuellement, ils pre¨fe© rent les |ª lots de foreª t dense au fourrage de haute qualite¨qui se trouve dans les plaines herbeuses. La salinite¨de l'eau modi¢e la distribution; on trouvait les crottes d'e¨le¨phants plus pre© s de l'eau douce en saison se© che. On a identi¢e¨un total de 95 espe© ces ve¨ge¨tales di¡e¨rentes dans les excre¨ments. Le pourcentage d'herbes e¨tait relativement bas par rapport aux e¨tudes ante¨rieures, il augmentait au de¨but de la saison des pluies. A la ¢n de la saison se© che, les e¨le¨phants se concentraient sur les quelques espe© ces de buissons comestibles ayant des jeunes feuilles, mais ils pre¨fe¨raient ge¨ne¨ralement les espe© ces herbeuses aux buissons. La composition du re¨gime e¨tait surtout a¡ecte¨e par la saison et moins par l'habitat. Les e¨le¨phants ont change¨leurs pre¨fe¨rences en matie© re d'habitat en re¨action au braconnage et ont sans doute ainsi augmente¨la contribution des espe© ces buissonnantes dans le re¨gime alimentaire. La pre¨sence des |ª lots forestiers a e¨te¨vitale pour la survie des e¨le¨phants.

Landscape-scale feeding patterns of African elephant inferred from carbon isotope analysis of feces

“…Grass is usually preferred to browse (Guy 1976;Owen-Smith 1988), but the time constraints associated with bulk-feeding imply that their diets should tend towards a frequency-dependent strategy, utilizing resources in proportion to their respective abundances. Thus, elephants tend to graze during the rainy season, when fresh grass is available following rains, and browse in the dry season, when the grass layer is reduced (Wing and Buss 1970;Williamson 1975;Guy 1976;De Boer et al 2000;Codron et al 2006). They are also likely to eat more grass in open, grassy habitats and more browse in woodland savannas and forest (De Boer et al 2000;Scholes et al 2003).…”

Asian Elephant Elephas Maximus Habitat Use and Ranging in Fragmented Rainforest and Plantations in the Anamalai Hills, India

“…Exposure of fresh grass due to receding levels of water under dry conditions and the adaptability of Asian elephants to feed on coarse grasses as compared to African elephants [43] may explain their increased use of tea plantations during the prolonged dry conditions of 2002-03. Better rainfall in the subsequent years may have had a positive impact on the regeneration of palatable species resulting in increased elephant use of their preferred habitat (natural vegetation) [44] and decline in the use of tea in subsequent years. When environmental conditions are more favorable in habitats with tree cover such as forest fragments, Eucalyptus, and coffee, elephants may reduce use of open habitats such as tea in order to avoid possible encounters with humans.…”

Ambient temperature as a determinant of landscape use in the savanna elephant, Loxodonta africana

“…Omphile and Powell, 2002) and many variables may determine this selectivity (Ruggiero and Fay, 1994;Dublin, 1996;Verlinden and Gavor, 1998;De Boer et al, 2000;Stokke and du Toit, 2002). Until now, no studies have examined whether the thermal environment might influence such selection.…”

“…Elephants may overcome some of the constraints imposed by their size by selecting landscapes with temperatures that facilitate thermoregulation during daily spells of temperature extremes. In the past, resources such as food availability (Dublin, 1996), water (Verlinden and Gavor, 1998;De Boer et al, 2000;Stokke and du Toit, 2002), nutrients (Ruggiero and Fay, 1994;Houston, et al, 2001), rugged terrain (Nellemann et al, 2002) and human habitation (Hoare, 1999) have all been linked to landscape selection in the elephant. However, despite ambient temperature affecting the activity levels of elephants (Ndumo, 1977), no studies have attempted to explore the possible role ambient temperature may also have on influencing landscape utilization by elephants.…”