Finding pathways to human–elephant coexistence: a risky business

Abstract

Finding ways for people and wildlife to coexist requires affording both parties access to critical resources and space, but also a behavioural change by both to avoid conflict. We investigated pathway use in a population of free-ranging African elephants Loxodonta africana in the Okavango Panhandle, Botswana that share their range with humans in a multi-use, heterogeneous landscape. We used detailed ground surveys to identify and map elephant movement pathways, and mixed-effect models to explore factors influencing elephant numbers and movement behaviour on and around these pathways. We found deviation in pathway use among the elephant population, suggesting behavioural adaptations to avoid human-associated risk: avoiding pathways near settlements, particularly near larger settlements; avoiding pathways close to cultivated land; and adopting a safety-in-numbers strategy when moving through areas of human use. Our findings suggest there is opportunity to capitalize on risk avoidance by elephant populations, to minimize resource-use overlap and reduce conflict between humans and elephants. We discuss a strategy that involves ensuring appropriate protection of elephant pathways in land-use planning, using development-free buffer zones, combined with mitigation techniques along the interface with agricultural lands to increase risk levels and reinforce human–elephant interface boundaries. We recommend further examination of the use of landscape-level mitigation techniques that encourage elephants to use pathways away from human activity and help define spatial boundaries for management of human–elephant conflict in multi-use landscapes.

Exploring movement decisions: Can Bayesian movement‐state models explain crop consumption behaviour in elephants (Loxodonta africana)?

“…When approaching the river, we expect elephants to switch to and remain in an encamped state (de Boer et al, ; Shannon et al, ). We further expect a higher probability of being in and switching to an exploratory state in corridors (Jachowski, Slotow, et al, ; Songhurst, McCulloch, et al, ). If elephants target fields deliberately, we expect that they will show a high probability of switching from exploring to and remaining in an encamped movement state when approaching fields.…”

“…In contrast, high density vegetation patches, such as groups of trees in a savanna landscape, result in shorter, more tortuous steps (de Knegt, Hengeveld, van Langevelde, de Boer, & Kirkman, ); elephants prefer to forage in these habitats since tree patches provide higher vegetation quality—in terms of fibre and nutrient levels—than savanna grasses (Ludwig, De Kroon, & Prins, ). Elephants are also known to move along well‐worn pathways or corridors (Gerhardt‐Weber, ; Guerbois, Chapanda, & Fritz, ; Jachowski, Slotow, & Millspaugh, ; Songhurst, McCulloch, et al, ; Von Gerhardt, Van Niekerk, Kidd, Samways, & Hanks, ), and the closer an agricultural field is to these pathways, the more likely it is to be raided (Songhurst & Coulson, ). The intensity of crop raiding also depends on the time of day and individual elephants’ characteristics.…”

“…Elephant crop consumption is both an issue of conservation and of farmer livelihood concern, and is especially evident in areas of high elephant and high human densities, such as northern Botswana (Gupta, 2013;Mackenzie & Ahabyona, 2012;Osborn, 2004;Pozo, Coulson, McCulloch, Stronza, & Songhurst, 2017;Songhurst, 2012;Songhurst & Coulson, 2014). Here agricultural fields tend to coincide in space with other attractive forage and water sources (Jackson, Mosojane, Ferreira, & van Aarde, 2008;Songhurst, McCulloch, & Coulson, 2015), which complicates efforts to tease apart the influence of vegetation and water on elephant habitat selection and movement patterns (Chamaillé-Jammes, Mtare, Makuwe, & Fritz, 2013;Duffy, Dai, Shannon, Slotow, & Page, 2011;Harris, Russell, Van Aarde, & Pimm, 2008). In particular, it is unclear whether elephants deliberately target agricultural fields to forage for crops, or whether crop raiding is a by-product of passing through fields while heading towards water (Jackson et al, 2008;Songhurst, McCulloch, et al, 2015).…”

“…Here agricultural fields tend to coincide in space with other attractive forage and water sources (Jackson, Mosojane, Ferreira, & van Aarde, 2008;Songhurst, McCulloch, & Coulson, 2015), which complicates efforts to tease apart the influence of vegetation and water on elephant habitat selection and movement patterns (Chamaillé-Jammes, Mtare, Makuwe, & Fritz, 2013;Duffy, Dai, Shannon, Slotow, & Page, 2011;Harris, Russell, Van Aarde, & Pimm, 2008). In particular, it is unclear whether elephants deliberately target agricultural fields to forage for crops, or whether crop raiding is a by-product of passing through fields while heading towards water (Jackson et al, 2008;Songhurst, McCulloch, et al, 2015).…”

Taking the Elephants' Perspective: Remembering Elephant Behavior, Cognition and Ecology in Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation

“…Some suggest that "coexistence" is a better term because it highlights the fact that positive relationships can and do exist between species living in the same habitats and landscapes (Hoare and Du Toit, 2001;Carter et al, 2012;Songhurst et al, 2016). It is clear, however, that humans and elephants do often compete for resources and are often involved in agonistic interactions across both African and Asian landscapes (Hoare, 2012).…”