Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants | Date: Dec 08 2007 | By: admin

Habib

The last two days at Dzanga have been overwhelming, the numbers soaring to well over one hundred. The weather although overcast and cloudy was a perfect temperature being cool and bugless. The real dry season is marked by the arrival of the biggest bulls in the Dzanga population and this year it has started earlier than expected. The first arrival was Habib two days ago. I recognized him immediately because of his distinctive ears. He however had broken his left tusk and was in full musth. Musth gave him the lead in the male hierarchy and he positiioned himself in the best mineral hole in the bai. I discovered that the last time I had seen him was in December of 2004 when he was also in musth. The peak of musth in the Dzanga area is the dry season and the bulls I haven’t seen all year make their way to the bai in search of receptive females.

Hilton

The real highlight this week however was the appearance of Hilton, the largest bull in the Dzanga forest elephant population, who was at the bai when I arrived yesterday afternoon. Hilton is one of my favorite individuals and he is only observed at the bai during the longest dry season, which spans the months of December to March. I have been observing Hilton since 1992 when I first identified him. Since then he arrives for a few days during the dry season and looks for females in estrous. Until two years ago he was always observed in musth. The last two years however he has come to the bai but no longer exhibits signs of musth. Yesterday he tried to displace several bulls from the best mineral hole but failed at both attempts and eventually he backed off and spent about an hour standing at the edge of the bai. After this long contemplation he left the bai and headed west. Until two years ago Hilton was the dominant presence in the clearing and the other larger bulls would immediately clear out of his way but he has now lost his dominance.

The dry season is by far the most interesting part of the year and holds most of the surprises because of the high turn over of individuals. There are not only males I haven’t seen for several years but also the new calves born to well known females who come to spend time in the bai. Also because of the small surface there is a vast range of social behavior only scene in settings such as Dzanga.

Clearings also provide one of the most effective protection tools for forest wildlife because it is in these settings where we are able to observe wildlife and do effective monitoring. In the case of Dzanga we are immediately alerted to poachers in the area by observing the behavior of the animals. Elephants in particular are the first animals to leave an area if threatened by poachers and this indicator is what we use to mobilize park guards to reinforce patrols in suspected areas to insure the future of these animals.

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