Human-Elephant Conflict in the Okavango Delta

Region: Okavango Delta, Botswana

Botswana faces a different challenge in elephant conservation and management to most other African countries. Thanks to successful conservation efforts and a minimal amount of poaching it now has the largest savannah population of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) – approximately 150,000 (DWNP pers comm.) in sub-Saharan Africa. With a current population growth of ~6% per annum (DWNP, 2006) and a consequent increase in their range, the elephant is unfortunately now perceived to be a problem animal. It is feared that high concentrations of elephants (especially around permanent water sources) are causing detrimental effects on the vegetation and consequently affecting other herbivore species, not to mention the effect on human beings living on the periphery of this expanding elephant range. Many local communities are complaining of crop loss, property damage, fear of walking to work/school, and even human deaths. The Government of Botswana is under immense pressure from many of its citizens to do something about this expanding “problem”, and management measures such as wide-scale culling or transfrontier conservation are being discussed.

A relatively recent expansion in the range of elephants throughout northern Botswana, has contributed to a large influx into the Okavango Delta and, as a result, an increase in the number of Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) reports from many of the local communities there. HEC poses one of the most serious challenges to wildlife management throughout the Okavango Delta and, as such, has been chosen as an important management intervention in the implementation of the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP). An overall understanding of the underlying patterns and processes of elephant movements and ecology, through extensive fieldwork and data collation, is essential however before effective management and HEC mitigation measures can be implemented. Indeed HEC has been identified as one of the five priority issues in the conservation of the African elephant.

HEC is a complex subject and a multi-faceted approach is needed to address the issue. On the one hand elephants can provide immense benefit to local populations through the tourism industry and yet, on the negative side elephants require a large natural resource base and plenty of space and where their need for these resources overlaps with humans, competition and conflict results.

To gain an overall understanding of human-elephant conflict in an area the distribution, frequency and severity of HEC cases need to be investigated. From other studies it has been found that the distribution, number and type of HEC incidents are often very variable between years and there may be many contributing factors e.g. rainfall, water availability, fruiting of wild trees, hunting activity by people, recent immigration of people etc. It has been suggested that a minimum of about three years is required to gain a comprehensive understanding of HEC in any one area. Therefore, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) has planned to implement an ongoing monitoring programme, to record HEC incidents and quantify crop damage using enumerators in the field.

This project will work together with and compliment the DWNP monitoring programme, by collecting the essential corresponding data on the ecology and movements of elephants in one of the main hotspot areas, which the ODMP project and Government resources could not otherwise accommodate.

This project aims to contribute information on the ecology and movements of elephants in human-elephant conflict (HEC) ‘hotspot’ areas of the Okavango’s Panhandle. The overall goal is to assist wildlife managers and farmers in developing practical and effective alternative land-use planning strategies to try and reduce such conflict in the area. Data is being collated on elephant population numbers and structure, their movements and migration routes, and habitat utilisation of elephants utilising the ‘Panhandle.’

The project also aims to provide valuable information on where elephants are coming from in order to position and concentrate mitigation measures (i.e. chilli fields and electric fences) in places where they will be most successful. Investigating the ecology of elephants utilising conflict “hotspots” will provide an understanding of why, when and where conflict occurs and which elephants are the main perpetrators.
This will aid in developing effective land use planning strategies and successful positioning of mitigation measures, as well as creating a model to predict future conflict incidents and hence enable the avoidance of potential conflict.

Objectives
The main objectives of the project are to:

• Identify how many elephants utilise the HEC hotspot area of the Okavango panhandle;
• Identify what elephants in the population are involved in HEC incidences;
• Investigate elephant movement in the area and establish to what extent HEC incidences are related to seasonal and/or more frequent movement patterns into the conflict areas and what factors affect this movement (i.e. food availability etc.);
• Identify the main migration routes in the area and establish how these routes impact the rate of HEC incidents in the area, i.e. do most incidents occur on these routes;
• Investigate elephant habitat utilisation and determine the proportion of habitat use near human settlements to other habitats, and in addition investigate which environmental factors determine habitat selection in the study area i.e. water availability.
• Disseminate findings and information to all stakeholders through the media, website and reports.
• Conduct educational talks in Kgotla meetings and schools within the study area and organizations such as HOORC, EHF and BWTI.

Knowledge of the ecology of the elephant population in areas where HEC occurs is essential in developing effective management strategies to reduce HEC. Data collected on movements and ecology of elephants – via ground and aerial surveys – will then be illustrated using GIS software. Visual maps will be produced which will provide a resource that can be used to predict spatial patterns of HEC cases. Results will be analysed to recognise if there are seasonal fluctuations in number and structure of populations, who the main perpetrators of conflict (gender, age, individuals) are and whether there are sufficient influx of elephant (and other wildlife) into areas surrounding affected villages to facilitate CBNRM programmes.

This will aid in developing effective land use planning strategies and successful positioning of mitigation measures, as well as creating a model to predict future conflict incidents and hence enable the avoidance of potential conflict.

Community consultations and education will form an essential component of the project. For the success of any wildlife management and conservation actions, collaboration with local communities is essential. All information obtained from the project will also be disseminated to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), to assist in decision-making and management of HEC and thereby facilitating local capacity building in the government department responsible for human-wildlife conflict resolution.

The overall project is designed to run for a total period of three years in the field and one year for data analysis and write up back in the laboratory.

February 2013
Farmers have completed implementing the Conservation Agriculture (CA) land preparation and planting phase and crops are currently at the interim stage of maturity. Chilli and equipment have been distributed to farmers trained in chilli deterrent techniques. A training workshop for CA trainers took place in December. Two lead farmers and Ohitiseng Mosupi (field assistant) attended a conservation agriculture workshop at Ukilima Farm in South Africa in February.

Community enumerators are currently monitoring HEC incidents during the 2012-2013 season.

For the full report,