Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Jun 12 2008 | By: dzangaforestelephants

First of all I’d like to thank Melissa for her generous donation which will help us continue the work here at Dzanga. Thanks Melissa mille fois. These donations will help us defray the everyday expenses and give us time to devote to work.

The situation at the Dzanga Clearing for the past week has been a calm peaceful time for the forest elephants. Numbers have been well over one hundred during the daylight hours. Despite the peacefulness we are still maintaining our vigilance of the area. The poachers for the moment are not working in the immediate area around Dzanga but their presence is not far from the site. On my return from Bangui last weekend we drove through one of the villages which is notorious for poaching activity and sitting outside his house was one of the worst poachers in the region. He was making no secret of his presence and had recently returned home after laying low during the military operation against poachers. I can only think that he is well protected by some of those in power. This is perhaps one of the most discouraging parts of working here, that despite the effort there are always those untouchables that will always remain outside the law.

Back to a more positive note. Today the big bongo group was back and there were close to 30 bongos in the middle of the clearing where they spent the afternoon. There was a notable lack of adult males which we had seen on previous occasions a few weeks ago so the mating season is over. The only other species besides bongo were the sitatunga who are seen everyday in the bai. The individuals we observed were mostly female and their young with one impressive male amongst them. One of the younger males we observe we have known since he was born. The sexual dimorphism between the males and females is striking, the females being a brilliant orange and males a chocolate brown. It has only been in the last couple of years when we have been seeing adult males on a regular basis, before that it was rare to see adult males in the clearing.

Male Sitatungas

The spathe of new elephant newborns are doing well, learning the ways of the clearing. Tess III’s newborn planted himself in front of the observation platform the other day and amuse us with his antics. He spent much of the afternoon with Teddy a juvenile male and also a member of the same family group. There was much touching and exploring. Yesterday the calf got into a pushing match with another young calf a bit bigger than himself but this didn’t deter him from continuing his childlike aggression. Knowing these individuals and watching them grow over the years has never ceased to amaze me. So many of them who are now adults we have known since they were born. We wonder however how the future bodes for the newest generation.

Tess III’s Newborn