Empathetic, emotionally intelligent and ecologically important, elephants live in the rainforests, savannas, grasslands and deserts of Africa and Asia’s subtropical and tropical regions. In some cases, these habitats are borderless, making the conservation of this iconic species even more complex and challenging.
More than half of the world’s remaining population of savanna elephants live in a transfrontier area called the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). Roughly the size of France, it spans parts of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola.
African elephants under-represented Asian cousins are thought to be ten times more endangered. According to the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), their numbers have more than halved over the past three generations. Worryingly, these highly social species are in big trouble on both continents; facing ever-growing pressures from human conflict, habitat loss and hunting for their prized tusks.
Every elephant lost is a blow to biodiversity. The pillars of ecosystems, these peaceful pachyderms dig natural water holes used by other animals, create life-nurturing light clearings in forests and disperse seeds in their dung during their migratory journeys.
Milk Mamas
It’s semi-nomadic Samburu people that are changing the fate of elephants in northern Kenya’s 850,000-acre Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, where they’re threatened by drought, poaching and human-elephant conflict. It’s home to Africa’s first indigenous-owned and managed elephant sanctuary: Reteti, which rescues and rehabilitates orphaned, injured and abandoned elephant calves. Caring for up to around 20 elephants at any given time, 52 have been rescued to date.
‘Most of the babies arriving to Reteti are rescued after falling into [man-made] wells, and many of these were injured while trying to escape,’ sanctuary manager Peter Lenasalia tells The Ethicalist. ‘Reteti is the first of its kind in Africa to employ female keepers,’ he continues. Acting as their surrogate mothers, the keepers care for the calves around the clock, even sleeping with them in their specially-adapted stables!
The support of Samburu women extends to 1,245 pastoralists known as ‘milk mamas’, who supply the sanctuary with 500 liters of goat milk a day from their herds. A healthier option for growing elephants, ‘[the goat milk] is nutritious and much easier to digest [than powdered milk formula],’ says Lenasalia. Reteti launched their ‘Milk to Market Programme’ five years ago, ‘which allows local Samburu women to start their own businesses, open bank accounts for the first time, save money, support their families and community, and pay their children’s school fees and healthcare costs,’ Lenasalia explains.
The calves are hand-raised until they reach three years old and usually released back into the wild from the age of seven to nine. In June this year, 13 (geo-tagged) elephants were returned to their original habitat; a bittersweet moment for their keepers, who forge strong bonds with the precious pachyderms. ‘We’re optimistic that some will reunite with their original kin,’ Lenasalia says.
Bees as Borders
In central Kenya, a nature-based solution which exploits elephants’ natural fear of bees is helping to safeguard an imperilled population of pachyderms.These industrious pollinators are being used to ward off elephants from rural farm lands in the 720,000 square mile Meru Conservation Area, where they’re known to regularly raid crops. ‘At the heart of this initiative lies the empowerment of farmers,’ Manager of international wildlife charity Born Free’s Saving Meru’s Giants programme Newton Simiyu tells the Ethicalist.
Custom-designed fences strung with some 120 beehives have been installed across a total of ten farms bordering Meru National Park (of ‘Born Free’ film fame). When an elephant makes contact with the fence, swarms of disturbed bees discourage it from entering Meru’s smallholders and subsistence farmers’ plots. ‘Our ultimate goal is to ensure zero deaths and injuries to farmers from encounters with elephants outside of the park, fostering a safer and more harmonious coexistence between local communities and wildlife,’ Simiyu says.
A win-win for all, farmers and their families also generate a sustainable income from the honey, selling it locally, and, with any luck, further afield in the future. ‘We are also negotiating with the hoteliers within and around Meru National Park to connect the farmers to profitable markets,’ Simiyu says, adding, ‘the success of these beehive fences has led to improved crop yields and has encouraged the community to embrace the project more fully.’
In line with the programme’s mission to support local communities through cost-effective and innovative solutions that reduce human-wildlife conflict, a carpentry training program is in the (wood) works. As well as eliminating the high costs associated with purchasing hives, ‘this initiative will enable local artisans to create affordable, high-quality hives, making sustainable beekeeping more accessible to farmers,’ Simiyu explains.
Elephants Back on Track
In India, where more than 60 per cent of the world’s wild Asian elephants reside, the conservation of one of the country’s most revered animals is being derailed by its 70,000 miles of train track. Between 2019 and 2021, 45 elephants were fatally wounded by trains according to Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw; India’s Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and IT. One of the most tragic cases took place earlier this year, when a nine-month-year-old calf was orphaned when a speeding train in northern India collided with her pregnant mother, who was killed on impact. Named Bani (‘Mother Earth’), the motherless elephant sustained life-changing injuries which have her holed up in India’s first elephant hospital, indefinitely.
Encouragingly, there are some proactive projects tackling this problem, head-on. India’s state of Tamil Nadu is preventing collisions with the help of army-grade AI-enabled cameras installed on a 5.5-mile stretch of track, that’s used by some 300 trains daily and regularly crossed by thirsty elephants. The technology identifies any elephant within a 150-metre distance of the track, alerting line controllers and train drivers. Since the project was launched in 2022, it’s estimated that over 1,000 elephant lives have been saved.
Meanwhile, in the states of Orissa and Jharkhand, acoustic tech is being deployed across 250-miles of railway track that crisscrosses 30 known elephant corridors on Indian Railway’s East Coast Network. It works by using trackside fiber optic cables to detect the vibrations of approaching elephants in real time. So successful, it’s set to be rolled out by The Southern Railway in the coming months.
With a collective effort that’s harnessing everything from smart tech to Samburu traditions, there’s every chance we can keep these magnificent mammals roaming on earth for many more years to come.
