Exploring implications of elephant movements between land use types in an arid savannah landscape
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69649/pachyderm.v65i.1301Abstract
While the numbers and distribution of African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) have declined in most African range States, they have been steadily increasing in much of southern Africa. In Namibia’s arid north-west, elephants are expanding beyond Protected areas (PA) into multiple types of land use, leading to socio-economic implications, both positive and negative. Our study aimed to quantify cross-land use movements and fence breaches and explore the institutional, legislative and policy implications of fencing, and a new conservation paradigm for the area. We used satellite movements of eight collared elephant herds in multiple types of land use to the south and west of Etosha National Park for one year. Of these herds, seven had home ranges spanning multiple PA/communal/commercial landscapes, often crossing fences with management or disease significance. The implications of the movements between land uses are assessed in the context of relevant policy regarding management and economics. We conclude that despite challenges to livestock disease control and fencing damage, the expansion of elephant range has resulted in economic benefits to landowners and communal conservancies through tourism and possible consumptive use opportunities, as well as an improvement in general wildlife conservation practices in the area. Regardless of these benefits and the growing interest among rural residents in supporting the establishment of elephant corridors and the removal of fences, Namibia’s legal and policy framework creates numerous implications for landowners and managers when considering fence breaches by elephants. We conclude with recommendations for holistic situational analysis of policy, law and practice and the consideration of amendments to outdated fencing requirements, thereby unlocking the economic and conservation benefits of elephant range expansion in the area.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Morgan Hauptfleisch, Denise Tembo, Reece Alberts, Dirk Cilliers, Kenneth Uiseb, Claudine Cloete, Francois Retief, Claudine Roos, Christin Winter, Rachel Harris, Chris Pitot
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.