Here are five Fact Sheets produced by ATE for the Kenya Elephant Forum to be used as scientific background in the campaign to sway minds and hearts at the forthcoming CoP15 meeting of CITES.
The African Elephant Coalition
Proposals to relax the African elephant’s protected status and to promote one-off sales of stockpiled ivory spell doom to the elephants within our lifetimes. Twenty-four African countries have come together to harness information to shape policy to ensure the elephants’ future.
Table of contents
for the KEF Fact Sheets
Background
In 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. Today, only 470,000 remain; some authorities estimate the number to be considerably lower.
The loss of a million elephants has been due primarily to killing for ivory. Natural habitat loss is a second important factor: human population has tripled in elephant range states since 1970.
Major public awareness campaigns have been launched worldwide to save the elephant and halt the illegal trade in ivory.
In October 1989, at the seventh meeting of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Convention of the Parties (CoP7), governments banned international trade in ivory with effect from January 1990
The links between the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants are clear (see KEF Fact Sheet 02, Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade). Unless action is taken based on good information and sound policy, African elephants will be gone from most of their former range within our lifetimes.
The African Elephant Coalition
Already in 1989, some Parties to the convention (France, UK, USA) had begun to impose their own ivory import bans. At each CITES meeting national contact groups formed in support of various propositions to control trade and protect elephant populations.
At CoP14 in 2007, a growing coalition of West, Central and East Africa states joined forces to support a Kenya-Mali proposal for a 20-year moratorium on the ivory trade. A compromise was reached with pro-trade Parties for a 9-year moratorium.
In February 2008, nineteen national representatives met in Mali to plan for implementation of CoP14 elephant Decisions. The Parties present agreed the ‘Bamako Declaration’ to formalise the ‘African Elephant Coalition’, and declaring that:
The coalition will strive to have a viable and healthy elephant population free of threats from International ivory trade. Parties to the coalition will also develop an elephant action plan that will encompass national and regional elephant strategies that promote non consumptive use of elephants through development of ecotourism for the benefit of local communities.
A follow-up meeting in June in Mombasa, Kenya, formally inaugurated the African Elephant Coalition (AEC) in order to promote and sustain a united front for the long-term conservation of Africa’s elephants and their habitats.
The AEC today includes 24 of the 37 African elephant Range States. They are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Liberia, Southern Sudan, and Rwanda. Mauritania is a member as a non-range state.
The six nominated AEC Bureau countries (underlined in para. 8) met in Rwanda in June 2009 to reaffirm the AEC commitment to stand firm and speak with one voice to protect one of the largest land mammals on Earth.
The composition of the AEC includes high-level government officials from national wildlife management authorities and technical and scientific representatives from civil society, with small secretariats in each member state. The Coalition is therefore a powerful lobbying voice at CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) meetings.
The Coalition is chaired at ministerial level. The current co-chairman are H.E. Aghatam AG Alhassane, Minister for the Environment, Mali, and Dr. Noah Wekesa, Minister for Forestry and Wildlife, Kenya.
The Coalition has designated three regional focal points, currently Côte d’Ivoire for Western Africa, the Central African Republic for Central Africa and Rwanda for Eastern Africa.
The next meeting of the Coalition in Brussels, January, 2010, will approve its organisational structure.
Action Plan
Specific activities of the Coalition include:
Follow-up on the implementation of CITES CoP14 Decisions on elephant conservation and ivory trade and particularly those Decisions directed to the Parties;
Implementation of Decision 14.75, Directed to African elephant range States, (Appendix 1) on resource mobilization, capacity building, development and implementation of Action Plans;
Monitoring of both legal and illegal trade in ivory;
Developing a common stand for the CITES CoPs based on new developments in ivory trade and elephant conservation and management;
Advising the Standing Committee members representing the sub-regions represented in the Coalition on matters relating to the African elephant
The Coalition is spearheading an information and awareness campaign to help policy makers take the correct decisions on the ivory trade at the next CITES CoP in March in Doha.
For more information, please contact the Kenya Elephant Forum or one of the AEC national focal points listed below.
Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade
This fact sheet aims to brief policy-makers on the link between elephant poaching and the ivory trade. Proposals to relax the African elephant’s internationally protected status and to increase one-off sales of stockpiled ivory spell doom to Africa’s elephants within our lifetimes.
Background
In 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. By 1989 only 600,000 remained.
The loss of more than half a million elephants in a decade was due primarily to killing for ivory. Natural habitat loss was a second important factor: human population had doubled in elephant range states since 1970.
Major public awareness campaigns were launched worldwide to save the elephant and halt the illegal trade in ivory.
In October 1989, at the seventh meeting of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Convention of the Parties (CoP7), governments banned international trade in ivory, with effect from January 1990.
Some Parties to the convention (France, UK, USA) had already begun to impose their own ivory import bans.
Demand for ivory dried up; the price of ivory dropped significantly and rapidly from ca. $300 per kilogramme to ca. $3 per kg.
Elephants in many parts of Africa were left in peace, and populations recovered. For example, Kenya had lost 90% of its elephants (167,000 to 16,000) in the 16-year period from 1973 to 1989. The population has grown back to more than 30,000 today.
In some areas poaching continued at a lower level, particularly in Central and West Africa where there were local markets for ivory. In addition, some ivory was smuggled out of Africa, mostly to the Far East.
In 1997 at CoP10, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe succeeded in having their elephant populations downlisted by CITES to a less endangered status (see KEF Fact Sheet 03 on CITES and the Ivory Trade).
In April 1998, Taiwanese port police seized 190 tusks and 283 ivory pieces weighing 1.45 tonnes originating from Nigeria.
The three southern African counties were allowed to sell stockpiled ivory to CITES-designated buyers. The first sale was in 1999; 50 tonnes were exported to Japan.
In 2000 at CoP11, South Africa’s elephant population was downlisted.
In June, 2002, the largest shipment of illegal ivory since the 1989 ban was seized by Singapore authorities. DNA analysis showed the ivory had originated in Zambia. The shipment, via Malawi and Zimbabwe, was destined for Japan. It comprised 532 elephant tusks and more than 40,000 cut pieces of ivory, 6.5 tonnes in total.
In November 2002 at CoP12, it was agreed that Botswana, Namibia and South Africa could export 60 tonnes of ivory, subject to conditions.
This second CITES-negotiated sale occurred in 2008. Zimbabwe was also allowed to sell ivory.108 tonnes went to Japan and China (46 and 62, respectively). Many predicted the sale might fuel an increasing appetite for ivory among the rapidly growing Chinese middle classes. That prediction appears to have been correct (see below, paras 20, 21).
Present Situation
Some 470,000 elephants remain in Africa today according to IUCN’s African Elephant Specialist Group. Other authorities estimate the number to be considerably lower.
An estimated 38,000 elephants are killed annually to supply the ivory trade, according to Dr. S. Wasser’s genetic studies of confiscated ivory (see para. 13). If this rate were to continue, elephants could be gone from most of their former range in less than 15 years.
Killing of elephants is increasing in East, Central and West Africa, as evidenced by increased poaching and increased seizures of ivory originating in Africa.
Confiscations of illegal ivory have greatly increased. ETIS, the Elephant Trade Information System has shown “… that between 2007 (the last time data was collected) and 2009, over 2,000 seizures of illegal elephant material were recorded by authorities, a sharp increase from years past. The increased rate of poaching, coupled with the large quantities of ivory in individual seizures, suggests that criminal networks are behind the trade and manipulating local populations to increase their profits.” (MediaGlobal, 21-11-09)
Demand in China has escalated since the one-off sales. Ivory carving factories and sales of ivory items have increased. In 2009 an additional 37 stores were approved as new, official ivory retail outlets. If only a small percentage of the 1.3 billion Chinese purchase ivory, the effect on elephant populations will be devastating.
Chinese companies are working throughout Africa. E. B. Martin, a leading ivory trade expert, said: “Chinese [throughout] Africa ... are buying up ivory, worked and raw. … in Khartoum or Omdurman I found that about 75% of all ivory being sold was bought by Chinese.” (Daily Nation, 11-11-09)
A kilogramme of ivory sells for as much as $1,500 in the Far East. On the ground in Kenya it sells for 3,000 Kenya shillings ($40). Even a small pair of 10-kg tusks would bring a poacher the equivalent of $400, more than casual workers earn in a year. A big bull carrying 100 kg of ivory would bring a fortune. The incentive is considerable.
What Can be Done to Save Elephants
National government Parties to CITES should aim for a permanent ban on the sale of ivory both internationally and within nations. In the interim, as the debate continues and more data are gathered, a 20-year ivory trade moratorium could be put in place (see KEF Fact Sheets 03 CITES and the Ivory Trade; 04 Proposals on the African Elephant for CITES CoP15).
Given the evidence that the stockpile sales to Japan and China have fuelled demand for ivory (see paragraphs 20 and 21), no further stockpile sales should be sanctioned.
The specific proposals of two southern African countries, Zambia and Tanzania, seeking the resumption of trade in African elephant ivory should be rejected (see KEF Fact Sheet 04 on Proposals on the African Elephant for CITES CoP15).
Public awareness campaigns should be mounted to reduce demand. As with the drug trade, if there are consumers willing to pay distorted prices for products, poachers and smugglers will find a way to get the product to the buyers.
Public awareness campaigns should be mounted to increase sensitivity to the ethical issues of killing a highly-intelligent, social-networking, communicative and self-aware animal like the elephant (similar in many ways to cetaceans and great apes) for consumptive, profit-driven use (see KEF Fact Sheet 05 on Elephants and Ecosystems).
Range states should be encouraged to develop and then trade on reputations of being ethical destinations for ecologically sensitive tourism.
The African Elephant Coalition, a new partnership of some two dozen African elephant range states, should be supported in its aim to promote and sustain a united front for the long-term conservation of Africa’s elephants and their habitats (see KEF Fact Sheet 01).
There should be critical examination of the argument that ivory sales can be used effectively to support elephant conservation. Economically, the amounts generated are insignificant compared to funds needed for effective national conservation programmes; morally, the notion is akin to selling drugs to support anti-drug campaigns. (See KEF Fact Sheet 05 on Elephants and Ecosystems).
The Kenya Elephant Forum, in support of the African Elephant Coalition, will mount Internet petition campaigns to enable concerned individuals to lobby against the killing of elephants.
For more information, please contact the Kenya Elephant Forum or one of the AEC national focal points listed below.
CITES and the Ivory Trade Trade
This fact sheet summarizes the major milestones in governments’ attempts to secure the future of the African elephant, which today is under serious threat from poaching and the ivory trade.
Background
In 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. Today, only 470,000 remain; some authorities estimate the number to be considerably lower.
The loss of a million elephants has been due primarily to killing for ivory. Natural habitat loss is a second important factor: human population has tripled in elephant range states since 1970.
Major public awareness campaigns have been launched worldwide to save the elephant and halt the illegal trade in ivory.
In October 1989, at the seventh meeting of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Convention of the Parties (CoP7), governments banned international trade in ivory with effect from January 1990.
The links between the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants are clear (see KEF Fact Sheet 02, Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade). Unless action is taken based on good information and sound policy, elephants will be gone from much of Africa in our lifetimes.
The International Mechanism
CITES is an international treaty ratified by 175 countries or Parties. The aim of the treaty is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild fauna and flora does not threaten the survival of the species.
CITES works through a licensing system by which international trade in specimens of selected species of wild fauna or flora is authorized. The species covered by CITES are listed under three Appendices. Listing is determined by the degree of protection a species requires. Appendix I affords the highest level of protection. It is accorded to species threatened with extinction and it bans their commercial trade. Appendix II and Appendix III species are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but international trade in them needs to be controlled to ensure their survival.
Parties to CITES meet every two to three years at the Conference of Parties (CoP) to review the implementation of the convention. The last meeting was CoP14 held in the Hague, 3-15 June 2007. The next meeting will be held in Doha, Qatar, 13-25 March 2010.
Elephant issues have formed an important part of the discussion at CITES since the 1980s when intense poaching across Africa led to the near extinction of the elephant in parts of the continent and its subsequent listing in Appendix I at CoP7 in 1989 (see KEF Fact Sheet 02, Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade).
Since 1989 when the Parties to CITES CoP7 listed the African elephant in Appendix I, there have been proposals to transfer some elephant populations to Appendix II and to allow international trade in ivory:
1992 (CoP8), Botswana, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe presented a joint proposal to transfer their elephant populations from Appendix I to II. This proposal was withdrawn after discussions.
1994 (CoP9), Sudan and South Africa proposals to transfer their populations to Appendix II were withdrawn.
1997 (CoP10), Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe elephant populations were downlisted from Appendix I to II. They were allowed to sell raw ivory stocks to Japan.
2000 (CoP11), The South Africa elephant population was downlisted from Appendix I to II. Proposals from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to allow further trade in ivory were withdrawn.
2002 (CoP12), Namibia, Botswana and South Africa were allowed to trade 60 metric tonnes of ivory, subject to conditions to be verified. A proposal for an annual quota for export of raw ivory from Namibia was withdrawn. A proposal from Zambia to downlist its elephant population and proposals for sales of raw ivory from Zambia and Zimbabwe were rejected.
2004 (CoP13) Namibia and South Africa presented trade proposals. Namibia was allowed trade in ekipas (traditional amulets) incorporated in finished jewellery for non-commercial purposes and trade in elephant leather and hair goods for commercial purposes. The South African proposal for commercial trade in leather and hair goods was adopted.
2007 (CoP14) a nine-year moratorium on trade by current Appendix II countries was approved, intending to provide a ‘resting period’ during which no further ivory trade proposals would be presented for consideration by the CoP. A one-off sale of 108 tonnes of ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe was approved, including the 60 tonnes approved at CoP12 and expanded to all government owned stocks registered by 31st January, 2007.
2010 (CoP15) Tanzania and Zimbabwe have submitted downlisting proposals. They are asking for their elephant populations currently listed in Appendix I to be listed in Appendix II. They want to be allowed to sell approximately 120 tonnes of ivory between them and to be allowed commercial trade in live animals and a range of specimens (see KEF Fact Sheet 04 Proposals on the African Elephant for CITES CoP15).
For more information, please contact the Kenya Elephant Forum or one of the AEC national focal points listed below.
Proposals on the African Elephant for CITES CoP15
This fact sheet presents the proposed amendments relating to the African Elephant that have been presented for consideration to the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES. 13-25 March 2010, Doha, Qatar. It provides views from the African Elephant Coalition on reasons for accepting or rejecting the proposals.
The African Elephant Coalition firmly believes that two of the current proposals (from Tanzania and Zambia, see overleaf) will increase demand for ivory and hence further encourage illegal killing of elephants. An alternative proposal (also overleaf) has been tabled by eight Coalition members to extend the ivory trade moratorium to 20 years.
Oppose Tanzania and Zambia proposals
The proposals go against the spirit of the negotiated moratorium and undermine the limited gains made towards developing the Action Plan.
Both countries actively participated in the discussions that led to the CoP14 decision to institute a nine-year ‘resting period’ during which African Range States agreed to develop an African Elephant Action Plan and Fund without the systemic disruption of further trade.
Reports indicate that poaching and trafficking of ivory are major problems in both Tanzania and Zambia, wherein some of the largest ivory seizures in the recent past have originated. Zambia was identified as the source of an illegal shipment of 532 large tusks and 42,000 hankos (Japanese signature seals) seized in Singapore in 2002. 11.7 tonnes of ivory seized in 2009 are reported to have originated in Tanzania.
The proposals are not supported by evidence of ‘appropriate enforcement controls’ required to be in place before a species is downlisted
Support the proposal by Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda, Sierra Leone & Togo
The proposal is made on behalf of 24 of the 37 African Elephant Range States that support lengthening of the moratorium from 9 to at least 20 years.
A nine-year moratorium period has no discernible biological basis. The mean age of first conception of a young female is generally around 12 years. A resting period commensurate with an average elephant generation time should be based on mean female reproductive age (ca. 20 years) and mean age of first male reproduction (ca. 35 years).
The nine-year CoP14 compromise that allowed Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to sell government-owned stocks presumed a comprehensive resting period after those sales. The tenor of the compromise was that no further ivory trade proposals would be presented for consideration before the end of the resting period.
The proposal by the African Elephant Coalition members includes elephant populations in both Appendix I and Appendix II in order not to dilute the effectiveness of the moratorium.
All indications from African Range States are that poaching is increasing at an alarming rate, and organized crime syndicates are involved in both poaching and the ivory trade. The negative impact of the sales conducted in October-November 2008, though not yet fully quantified, are being felt across Africa. The proposals from Zambia and Tanzania will encourage traders to undermine further the purpose of a moratorium.
It has been suggested that the proposal is incompatible with the Parties’ right under Article XV of the Convention to propose amendments at any CoP meeting. However, a moratorium would constitute an agreed mutual understanding that Parties will limit their rights under Article XV, as they have done on other occasions in the past.
Acceptance of a moratorium of appropriate length sends a strong signal of the resolve of the Parties to ensure the future of African elephants.
Tanzania Proposal
Transfer the population of the United Republic of Tanzania from Appendix I to Appendix II with an annotation to read:
"For the exclusive purpose of the following:
trade in hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes;
trade in registered raw ivory (whole tusks and pieces) subject to the following:
a one-off sale of 89,848.74 kg from registered government-owned stocks, originating in Tanzania (excluding seized ivory and ivory of unknown origin);
only to trading partners that have been already designated by the Standing Committee, as having sufficient national legislation and domestic trade controls to ensure that the imported ivory will not be re-exported and will be managed in accordance with all requirements of Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14) concerning domestic manufacturing and trade. These are Japan designated as a trading partner at the 54th meeting (Geneva, October 2006), and China designated as a trading partner at the 57th meeting (SC57, Geneva, July 2008);
not before the Secretariat has verified the registered government-owned stocks;
the proceeds of the trade are used exclusively for elephant conservation, community conservation and development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant range in Tanzania;
Tanzania will not present further proposals to allow trade in elephant ivory from its population in Appendix II to the Conference of the Parties for the period from CoP15 and ending six years from the date of the single sale of ivory that is to take place in accordance with provisions in paragraphs b) i), b) ii), b) iii), b) iv). In addition such further proposal shall be dealt with in accordance with Decisions 14.77 and 14.78;
trade in raw hides;
trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations, as defined in Resolution Conf. 11.20.
The Standing Committee can decide to cause the trade in a), b), c) and d) above to cease partially or completely in the event of non-compliance by exporting or importing countries, or in the case of proven detrimental impacts of the trade on other elephant populations as may be proposed by the CITES Secretariat.
All other specimens shall be deemed to be specimens of species included in Appendix I and the trade in them shall be regulated accordingly".
Zambia Proposal
Transfer of the population of Zambia from Appendix I to Appendix II for the exclusive purposes of allowing:
trade in hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes;
trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations, as defined in Resolution Conf. 11.20;
trade in raw hides;
trade in registered raw ivory subject to the following:
a one-off sale of 21,692.23 kg as ivory from registered government-owned stocks, originating in Zambia (excluding seized ivory and ivory of unknown origin);
only to trading partners that have already been designated by the Standing Committee, as having sufficient national legislation and domestic trade controls to ensure that the imported ivory will not be re-exported and will be managed in accordance with all requirements of Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev. CoP14) concerning domestic manufacturing and trade: these are Japan designated as a trading partner at the 54th meeting (SC54 Geneva, October 2006), and China designated as a trading partner at the 57th meeting (SC57, Geneva, July 2008);
not before the Secretariat has verified the registered government-owned stocks;
the proceeds of the trade are used exclusively for elephant conservation and community conservation and development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant range in Zambia;
on a proposal from the Secretariat, the Standing Committee can decide to cause this trade to cease partially or completely in the event of non-compliance by exporting or importing countries, or in the case of proven detrimental impacts of the trade on other elephant populations. All other specimens shall be deemed to be specimens of species included in Appendix I and the trade in them shall be regulated accordingly.
Proposal by Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Togo
Remove the following paragraph from the annotation regarding the populations of Loxodonta africana of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe:
h) no further proposals to allow trade in elephant ivory from populations already in Appendix II shall be submitted to the Conference of the Parties for the period from CoP14 and ending nine years from the date of the single sale of ivory that is to take place in accordance with provisions in paragraphs g) i), g) ii), g) iii), g) vi) and g) vii). In addition such further proposals shall be dealt with in accordance with Decisions 14.77 and 14.78.
Include an annotation regarding all populations of Loxodonta africana, as follows:
"No further proposals concerning trade in African elephant ivory, including proposals to downlist elephant populations from Appendix I to Appendix II, shall be submitted to the Conference of the Parties for the period from CoP14 and ending twenty years from the date of the single sale of ivory that took place in November 2008. Following this twenty year resting period, any elephant proposals shall be dealt with in accordance with Decisions 14.77 and 14.78."
Remove paragraph (f) in the annotation to the CITES Appendices governing the elephant populations of Namibia and Zimbabwe:
trade in individually marked and certified ekipas incorporated in finished jewellery for non-commercial purposes for Namibia and ivory carvings for non-commercial purposes for Zimbabwe.
Elephants and Ecosystems
Elephants are important. They are large, long-lived, highly intelligent and complex animals. They are under threat from ivory poaching and habitat loss. They are an essential component of African savannah and forest ecosystems. Local extinctions could lead to catastrophic ecological changes. Losing them would be detrimental to Africa, Asia and the world.
Elephant Biology and Behaviour: Exceptional in Every Respect
Elephants are the largest land mammals. They have proportionally very large and complex brains, combining self-awareness with a high capacity for spatial and social memory.
They can live to at least 65 years in the wild; there are records of Indian elephants living until 80.
Elephants have a very long developmental period with an extended period of social dependency on matriarchal family groups lasting 10 or more years.
Elephant social life is complex yet flexible. Females and calves live in families of two to fifty individuals, depending on the habitat and social circumstances. The oldest female, the matriarch, heads each family. She is the leader in every sense and the repository of vital knowledge for the survival of her family and the population.
Female elephants can reach sexual maturity at 10-12 years. Most successful conception and calf rearing occurs when females are aged 15-50 years. They can continue breeding into their 60s.
The family unit is the basis of elephant juvenile survival and reproductive success. Young immature females play a caretaking role to help protect and guide younger calves, which reduces stress on the mothers and increases the survival of the offspring.
Males leave their families from ages 10-15 and thereafter live separately in loose adult bull associations for some years. Mature males compete for females using a strategy called musth, by which annual periods of heightened sexual activity in each male are timed to maximize success and reduce conflict.
The oldest, largest males are the most successful breeders. Genetic studies of a well-known population show that male reproductive success peaks in the late forties and continues at least until 60 years of age
Elephants have highly complex interactions with levels of social structure beyond the family unit. They have a vocal repertoire of over 70 individual calls each with a specific message and are capable of recognizing and responding appropriately to the calls of over 100 different elephants.
Elephants are sensitive to the behaviour of people and are capable of distinguishing between dangerous and benign humans. Elephants generally respond to human aggression by fleeing; they will only attack if threatened at close range. Survivors of poaching are clearly stressed, living in disrupted social structures with reduced breeding success and increased antagonism towards local people.
Long-term research has shown that the killing of older individuals for their ivory seriously jeopardizes the viability of their population. The accumulated experience of a matriarch provides a knowledge base to steer her family through the hazards of survival in a variable ecosystem. And the prolonged breeding of an old male passes on the very genes of strength and healthiness, canniness and adaptability that allowed him to get to that age in the first place.
Elephants’ Role in Ecosystems: Architects and Planters
Elephants have co-evolved in the ecosystems of Africa and Asia for at least 50 million years.
The large body size and long lifespan of elephants govern many of their ecological interactions. The demographic variables that drive population growth and decline vary over long periods of time, often measured in decades. Population size is regulated by a combination of density-dependent food competition and periodic diebacks of very young and old animals in droughts.
The dispersal between adjacent populations (a so-called “meta-population” landscape) is another mechanism that reduces local population density. The need for dispersal space argues for easements and corridors to accommodate population growth and seasonal movements.
Elephants eat large amounts of plant material from ground level to the tree canopy. Foraging elephants have strongly influenced the shape, patchiness and species composition of ecosystems and habitats we see today. In this respect, the elephant is similar to other herbivores, but because of its size, it is a ‘keystone species’ that has a predominant and positive influence on the diversity of natural African landscapes.
Elephants’ bodies are designed for movement over extensive areas with relative ease. They perforce use large areas of land in search of food, which increasingly brings them into contact and potential conflict with people. Unresolved conflict may result in human losses and confinement of elephants with intense, local effects on the structure of plant and animal communities.
In Africa, elephants are called the ’architects of the savannah‘; their role in preventing bush encroachment has long been recognized by pastoral people. Elephants keep the savannahs open for grassland that is essential to cattle-keepers. If elephants are removed, the structure of habitats changes dramatically.
They are also called the ‘tree-planters’ of the Central African forests. Elephants ingest and disperse the seeds of large, important forest tree species. Scientists have recorded 96 species in elephant dung, which can be dispersed more than 10 km from the parent tree.* Many tree species can only reproduce if elephants swallow and transport their seeds.
Blake and his colleagues concluded that “...the loss of forest elephants (and other large-bodied dispersers) may lead to a wave of recruitment failure among animal-dispersed tree species, and favor regeneration of the species-poor abiotically dispersed guild of trees.”*
The links between the ivory trade and the illegal killing of elephants are clear (see KEF Fact Sheet 02, Elephant Poaching and the Ivory Trade). Unless action is taken based on good information and sound policy, African elephants will be gone from most of their former range within our lifetimes, along with the diversity of many habitats and species.
* Blake, Stephen; Deem, Sharon Lynn; Mossimbo, Eric; Maisels, Fiona, Walsh, Peter (2009) Forest Elephants: Tree Planters of the Congo. BIOTROPICA 41(4): 459–468 2009
For more information, please contact the Kenya Elephant Forum or one of the AEC national focal points listed below.
Key Contacts
Kenya Elephant Forum
Ms. Pat Awori
PO Box 47756
Nairobi 00100, Kenya aworipat@yahoo.com
AEC Kenya Focal Point
Mr. Solomon Kyalo
CITES Office
Kenya Wildlife Service
PO Box 40241, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 600800 cites@kws.go.ke
AEC Mali Focal Point
Dir. Nat. de la Conservation de la Nature
Rue 333 – Porte 93
BP 275
Bamako, Mali
Tél.: +223 – 223 36 95 /97 conservationature@datatech.net.ml
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