project updates
Human-Elephant Conflict in the Okavango Delta
March 2010
A total of 50 fields have been raided by elephant so far in 2010 crop season. A total of two elephants have been killed in January and February. In 2008, six elephants were killed as problem animals and in 2009 five elephants were killed. Educational talks will be conducted over the next three months in the remaining 5 village schools. A total of 628 farmers were interviewed in 2008 field season. Similar interviews have commenced with farmers who have been raided by elephants in 2010 and a total of 44 have been carried out thus far.
A more detailed questionnaire survey was carried out in 2009 to investigate farmer perception towards elephants and human-elephant conflict issues. A total of 353 farmers were interviewed in 2009 and the survey is continuing in the 2010 crop season. To date 16 farmers have been interviewed in 2010.
Aims for the next 3 months:
Continue data collection on raided and non-raided fields for the 2010 crop season, carry out remaining questionnaire surveys, continue transect fieldwork and conduct educational talks in the remaining five village primary schools. A comprehensive aerial survey is planned for July 2010.
For the full report Click Here
July 2009
Overall, there were fewer elephant raids in the 2009 crop season compared to 2008, with 413 fields raided in 2008 and 208 fields in 2009. This may have been due to a larger rainfall in 2009 keeping elephants near rain-filled pans for longer, rather than coming to the river for water and hence near to fields.
A total of five elephants were killed in the 2009 crop-raiding season, and one person lost their life to an elephant. In 2008, six elephants were killed as problem animals and two people lost their lives to elephants in the Okavango Panhandle.
Aims for next 3 months
Continue transect fieldwork and educational talks in the remaining five village primary schools. "Chilli mitigation" training workshops will be facilitated and coordinated, in collaboration with DWNP staff in Seronga and Kasane. Ground transects will be driven three times a month during August, September and October to collect data on the spatial use of elephants, people and livestock in the study area. A comprehensive aerial survey is planned for August or September.
For the full report click here
March 2009
The 2009 field season commenced in January, with enumerators being recruited in 12 villages (Mohembo-East, Kauxwi, Xakao, Tobera, Sekondomboro, Ngarange, Mogotho, Seronga, Gunotsoga, Eretsha, Beetsha and Gudigwa). Five new enumerators were recruited, and seven enumerators employed in 2008 were re-recruited for the 2009 field season.
Crop-raiding assessments began after training workshop at the beginning of January. Additional fieldwork continued throughout January-March with transects to assess the spatial use of elephants and people. During February trial detailed farmer interviews were conducted and the interview survey commenced in March. 50 farmers have been interviewed to date.
Educational talks are being organised with local schools and two were conducted in February and March. An article has been published in the January-March edition of 'Conservation News' magazine.
Elephant movements and migration routes
A total of 45 main elephant pathways have been identified through the study area so far. The points where these cross the main road and where they occur close to fields have been marked on the GPS and mapped in Arc View. The pathways have been identified through local knowledge from the community and through spoor identification during the ground transect surveys.
It is evident that there are at least five large elephant paths leading from waterholes in the north and east, leading to the Okavango River. This was verified during detailed aerial surveys in August 2008, when well-trodden elephant paths were clearly visible from the air. The distances of fields to these elephant pathways will be measured once mapping is completed.
There are many farms located along or close to these main pathways, and it appears as if this does indeed make a farm more susceptible to raiding, however data analysis needs to be completed before we can conclude this is a significant result. Many new fields have been established this year in 2009 very close to some main paths. The HEC 'hotspot' village of Tobera is a classic example of where the fields appear to be on a main elephant path. It looks like the elephants are using a path that connects a group of waterholes in the north-east, through the line of fields and on to the River. The question is: was this old elephant migration route here before the farmers planted their fields or have the elephants changed their route to the river to go via the fields with crops? The farmers' opinion is that the elephants have started coming for the crops, yet from the air and the map the path looks like it is the most direct route from the pans to the rivers.
Data collection is continuing throughout the 2009 field season. Data analysis and GIS mapping will continue after the 2009 field season.
2008 Sum up
Data collection on crop-raiding incidents began in April 2008 and ground transects were driven three times a month to collect data on the spatial use of elephants, people and livestock in the study area. 628 fields were visited and farmers interviewed in 2008, 466 of which were raided and 162 non-raided fields. Data analysis is underway in order to conduct a comparison between raided and non-raided fields. A total of six elephants were shot as problem animals in 2008; carcasses were visited and data such as GPS locations, sex and age recorded. Fortunately, no elephant-induced human deaths or injuries were recorded in the study area during 2008.
During 2008 all villages in the study area were visited and project personnel introduced to the community. 10 locally appointed 'enumerators' of elephant damage were trained to collect data over three months before the crops were harvested. 628 farmers were interviewed, with questions primarily directed towards investigating elephant damage and elephant movements. Educational talks were organised with local schools.
November 2008
Fieldwork continued throughout October with transect spoor and people counts, and the data collection on fields was completed in September. Over October and November data has been collated and entered into spreadsheets, and statistical analysis has commenced. The aerial survey data has been analysed and population estimates of elephants in the study area (NG11), and NG12 & NG13 have been calculated.
Ground transects have been driven three times a month during September and October to collect data on the spatial use of elephants, people and livestock in the study area.
Vegetation surveys commenced in September and the browse layer was assessed; however, it will need to be continued during January/February once the grass has grown again and the herbaceous layer can be classified. Once completed, the habitat types throughout the study area can be classified.
A total of 628 fields have been surveyed in the 2008 fieldwork season. These fields included 2008 raided fields, 2008 non-raided fields and 2007 raided fields. 162 fields were non-raided (26%) and the remaining 466 were raided (74%). All field data has been inputted into spreadsheets and preliminary data analysis is underway. A comparative analysis of raided and non-raided fields will be conducted over the next few months.
A total of 628 farmers have been interviewed this field season, with questions primarily directed towards investigating elephant damage and elephant movements. Educational talks are being organised with local schools and hope to be conducted during December. Articles to publicise the research are being submitted to two Botswana magazines.
Aims for next 3 months
Continue with data input and analysis; and begin GIS analysis and mapping. Educational talks at local schools are planned for December this year. All Kgosis (Chiefs) of the study villages will be consulted during December and new/existing Enumerators recruited and trained. The field data collection will commence in January, which is the start of the crop-raiding season.
August 2008
Field data collection has continued to go well from July through to September. A total of 238 non-raided and 2007 raided fields have been visited and assessed by the research team. GPS locations of 2007 damage sites, entrance and exit points of the elephants have been recorded for 2007 raided fields, and GPS data on nearest waterholes, elephant pathways and watch huts have been recorded for all fields. Additional data on the crops, mitigation techniques, vegetation, raiding elephants, temporal data and socioeconomic data on the farmers have been collected.
It was very encouraging to hear that farmers would like to see the enumerator monitoring system continued. This indicates that there should be community support for such a system to be implemented in the future. Such a system would enable fields to be assessed straight after elephant raids, improve the quality of the data being collected on elephant damage, facilitate the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in attending elephant damage incidents promptly and aid in improving the relationship between the DWNP and the community in the study area.
A comparative analysis will now be conducted between raided and non-raided fields and factors which make a farm more susceptible to being raided will be identified. Enumerators finished their employment in July, and debriefing was held to summarise the project's achievements and discuss suggestions and improvements for 2009 data collection.
A detailed elephant population survey took place in August (22nd-28th), in collaboration with Elephants Without Borders research project and covered the study area NG11, as well as NG12 and NG13.
Data is currently being analysed to estimate elephant and cattle population numbers for the study area. Elephant and cattle densities will also be calculated per sample area and for the total study area. Mean herd sizes of bull and breeding herds will be calculated and compared using sample t-tests.
It is surmised that the elephants utilising this area of the Okavango panhandle are an almost closed population, with little movement across the fences. It will therefore be very interesting to compare this dry season survey data to future wet season surveys, for the whole area incorporating NG11, NG12 and NG13.
Update July 2008
The project fieldwork has been going well over the last few months. All villages in the study area have been visited and the research and project personnel introduced to the community. Each village chief has recommended an 'enumerator' of elephant damage for their village and all candidates were interviewed by the principal investigator. Ten enumerators of conflict incidents from ten villages in the study area have been trained and one research assistant from Gunotsoga (the closest village to the research camp). Enumerators were deployed in April and have been collecting data over the last three months before the crops were harvested. Data collection started mid-crop season and we missed some of the earlier raiding incidents, therefore next year we will begin data collection at the start of the crop-season (Jan).
375 fields have been raided by elephants in 2008 and all of these were attended by the research team. GPS locations of damage sites, entrance and exit points of the elephants, nearest waterholes and elephant pathways and watch-hut waypoints have also been recorded. Additional data on the crops, mitigation techniques, vegetation, raiding elephants, temporal data and socioeconomic data on the farmers have been recorded. A total of five elephants have been labelled as problem animals and shot by farmers in the community this year, but luckily no injuries to humans have been recorded.
The number of elephant-raided fields, as well as the number of elephants shot as problem animals, show that human-elephant conflict is a reality in the Okavango Panhandle. Over the next few months, data will be recorded on non-raided fields and those fields raided by elephants in 2007. This will allow a comparative analysis to be conducted between raided and non-raided fields and to identify factors which make a farm more susceptible to raiding.
A detailed elephant population survey is scheduled to take place in August, in collaboration with Elephants Without Borders research project.
Review of Methodology
Most of the planned project activities for Year 1 have been implemented and are proving to be successful. We have had a few logistical delays with the aerial surveys; however, they are now scheduled to begin in August. Also, we have found it difficult to gain visuals of elephants during daylight hours in the study area - near human settlements/roads elephants are active at night time only and therefore it has been extremely difficult to gain visuals. This has hindered our ability to collect data on elephant diurnal activities, behaviour and identify daytime refuges, however, it is hoped that the aerial surveys will give a better insight into the daytime refuges and enable us to devise an alternative methodology.
Elephant movements and migration routes
Orthophotos of the study area have been obtained from the Government of Botswana. These have been uploaded into Arcview and geo-referenced. Elephant pathways, roads, waterholes and fields are visible on these images and will be verified using data from ground surveys and local knowledge.
The mapping of elephant pathways has begun by gaining local knowledge from the community and ground surveys by the researchers. Each farmer visited has been interviewed to gain knowledge on the closest water source and elephant paths to their field. GPS data on the exit and entrance points of elephants in the field have been recorded and entered into Mapsource.
