The distribution of elephants in north-eastern Ghana and northern Togo

Abstract

This April-June 1996 study focused on the elephant populations in northern Togo and northeastern Ghana. Animals move between the two nations and into southern Burkina Faso. Interviews in Ghana involved people from 42 villages in 7 districts, in Togo from 24 villages in 6 districts (prefectures). Crop raiding is a problem throughout the area but the frustration level in this part of Togo was so high in the late 1980s that Ghanian hunters were encouraged to come in - about 200 elephant were killed between 1989 mid 1991. Now there are no elephant in Keran NP nor in Galangashie and Barkoissi Reserves, but they are seen seasonally in the Doung-Pana area and along the Oti River. In the adjacent area of Ghana they are observed seasonally along Sissili River and the Red Volta and Morago River valleys. They still move between Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso, but the traditional route between Ghana and Togo's Fosse-aux-Lions NP (a significant proportion of the Park is cultivated) is disappearing. The population status in the area needs to be investigated.