ATE Research Director Joyce Poole and Petter Granli met so many people interested in and even passionate about elephants and the work of ATE and ElephantVoices during their two week lecture and fundraising tour. We are fully dependant on the generosity of individuals to continue our long-term research, conservation and welfare efforts. The good news is therefore that the lectures and meetings in Bozeman, Jackson Hole, San Francisco and Los Angeles led to substantial financial support.

Over the past few years, ATE has been looking for new ways to engender good will towards wildlife in the greater Amboseli ecosystem: the key to the future of the elephants is a positive attitude among the Maasai who live in the park's dispersal areas (see Outreach).

Filming will begin tomorrow on an exciting new documentary series about the Amboseli elephants and the work of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. The award-winning production company, Mike Birkhead Associates, will take the lead in producing a 13-part series for Animal Planet and the European-based Off the Fence.

As one drives through the terrain of Amboseli Ecosystem and especially inside the Park, the situation doesn’t look good because of the ongoing drought. Elephant sighting is becoming less and less. Most family groups come into the park around mid-day and some are spotted at night coming to drink and then head back to forage outside the park.

Melissa Groo, who runs the excellent Save the Elephants Elephant News (you can subscribe here), posted the announcement below from Hezy Shoshani, old friend of Amboseli researchers and venerable elephant expert.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON ELEPHANT BEHAVIOR

ATE's Research Director Joyce Poole will be giving a talk at a seminar entitled Comparative perspectives on the evolution of language at University of St Andrews], Scotland, 28th and 29 August. The title of her talk is "Big talkers: Elephant communication and sociality". The seminar is the last in a series called "Evolutionary Approaches to Culture, Cognition and Communication".

On the 12th of June 07, I set out on my normal daily field work to the western side of the park but didn’t find many Elephants, as it's normal during the dry season. Many families move out of the park and sometimes we tend to find the same family everyday.

Background

In October 2005, following the surprising announcement that Amboseli National Park was to be de-gazetted (there is currently a court case attempting to stop the transfer) , the UNESCO Nairobi Office and the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO in consultation with KWS asked us to conduct an inventory and prepare an analysis of the Amboseli situation.