Ecology and conservation of elephants in African rangelands

Where wildlife perseveres outside protected areas, many animals, and especially elephants, increasingly clash with humans over limited resources like land, water, and forage. Most African elephants (Loxodonta africana ) are outside of protected areas for some or all of the year. Habitat outside of parks is critical to the species. Unprotected habitat is often rangeland, shared with people and their livestock. If elephants are to persist, their role in human-dominated landscapes must be better understood.; This dissertation was addresses three areas crucial to the continued survival of African elephants: (1) ecological impact on woody vegetation, (2) ability to coexist with people and cattle, and (3) attitudes of local people. All these share a common theme: the ecology and conservation of elephants outside protected areas, where they are often locally abundant and in conflict with humans. Research was focused in cattle rangelands hosting elephants in Botswana and Kenya because (a) both countries have substantial elephant populations, (b) cattle production occupies vast areas in both countries and (c) they have differing views on sustainable utilization of wildlife in general and elephants in particular.; Attitudes toward elephants in both Kenya and Botswana were negatively associated with dependence on agriculture. In Botswana, education and visits to national parks correlated with more positive attitudes towards wildlife. Most appreciation of wildlife was based on consumptive use. In Kenya, people from pastoral tribes were more concerned with predators whereas new settlers' complaints centered on crop raiding by elephants. Respondents from a pastoral community with direct benefits from tourism were markedly more positive about elephants. Income and education were not always correlated with tolerance of elephants, but with perceiving a linkage between elephants and tourism-based income.; Large-scale, long-term exclosure experiments showed that elephants actively suppress several species of woody plants in a Kenyan rangeland. Browsing affected relative canopy cover of palatable species more than elephant seedling predation or elephant-caused mortality. Simulated herbivory on the dominant tree ( Acacia drepanolobium) elicited compensatory growth. Elephant modifications of rangeland may be compatible with livestock use.