gmentation. African bush elephants are threatened, primarily due to habitat loss and being poached for their tusks.
We are actively promoting the conservation of elephants through a variety of methods aimed at understanding elephant behavior and their reproductive biology in their natural habitats and in zoos. We can apply the knowledge we gain studying the elephants at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park to help sustain elephants in their native environments. In one multidisciplinary approach, our scientists record elephant auditory communication and behavior for a clearer understanding of the social dynamics of a herd and the relationship between mother and calf. In another, we’re recording and plotting calf weights as a measure of health.
To promote genetic diversity, we’re sharing bull elephant semen with other facilities in an effort to enhance the gene pool of managed populations. To further reproductive success, we are monitoring hormones to uncover the details of the complex estrous cycle of elephants. At the Safari Park, we are studying how many miles our elephants move each day by having select individuals wear specially designed pedometers. Eventually, results will be compared between individual animals, zoos, and even what has been documented in nature to see if zoo elephants get enough exercise.
Partnerships and collaborations. We continue to financially support field conservation efforts in Swaziland and are working with the Northern Rangelands Trust to preserve large tracts of land in Kenya and helping local ecologists and rangers reduce human-elephant conflict in the area. In the past, we have partnered with the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, where Asian elephants are managed in conditions very similar to that of their wild counterparts.
The small country of Botswana is home to the largest contiguous wild elephant population remaining on the African continent. San Diego Zoo Global has partnered with the nonprofit Elephants Without Borders (EWB) to delve further into research to answer questions about elephants, their behavior, and the best ways to help conserve them. Blood samples from wild elephants have been taken to our labs for ongoing genetic studies; fecal samples are collected for analysis of diet and stress in elephant populations throughout their range to possibly determine health conditions and motivation for elephant travels.
Elephants Without Borders has been deploying satellite-monitoring collars on elephants throughout northern Botswana since 2000, having tracked over 90 individual elephants; this is one of the longest and largest elephant movement studies in Africa. Every individual pachyderm has its unique character and intriguing story to his or her own seasonal march, preferred routes, and favored places. Each new elephant fitted with a tracking device provides new information to understand the ecology of these animals. Unpredictable individual ranging behavior coupled with a dynamic, ever-changing environment in Botswana underscore the need for long-term elephant studies. The elephants are tracked from a fixed-wing plane, which allows a visual assessment of collared elephants to determine herd structure and habitat use.
In collaboration with San Diego Zoo Global, Elephants Without Borders has established a conservation farming project in the Chobe Enclave in Botswana. This project is developing experimental plots with various methods of keeping elephants away from crops, including farming of specific chili species that are thought to be unpalatable to elephants and may deter them from invading crop areas. Along with aerial survey wildlife counts and satellite-collared elephant data, these projects are essential for developing community-based conservation programs to reduce human-elephant conflict and make better-informed conservation decisions for all.
In addition, San Diego Zoo Global has developed anesthesia techniques that are used at other zoos and in the wild and is a member of the International Elephant Foundation. All of these efforts help us and other zoo