Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Nov 30 2008 | By: dzangaforestelephants

My apologies regarding a lack of blogging activity, it has now been a couple of months since the last blog from Dzanga. Between a trip to the US and returning to the Central African Republic, it has been a busy time. Blogging has been low on the priority list and finally I find myself with some time to devote to composing an update.

Returning I found the team in charge had done a great job and there had been no major problems and elephant numbers were healthy with a relax atmosphere indicating no poaching threat in the immediate area of the Dzanga Clearing. This is always a worry during my absence: the security of the clearing and the conscientiousness of the people in the field. So it was more than relief I was feeling to return to a place I know well and to be reassured. The feeling was more about reaping positive results from a lot of effort. Although we have been able to protect the immediate area, the threat of poaching remains a problem in the area of Central Africa where reports from other sites indicates an upsurge of illegal killing. The Chinese and Japanese were granted permission to buy ivory stocks by CITES and this transaction bodes poorly for the future of Central African elephants.

Upon my return it was still the height of the rainy season so work remained a bit difficult while dodging the storms which seem more and more virulent. However last week the dry season seemed to have arrived over night. There was that distinct change in the air, more of a smokey, dry feeling with temperatures rising provoking much commentary by all about how hot it was. With the dryness there has also been a remarkable change in the clearing, the elephants sensing that the dry season is here. The first most characteristic change is not only the numbers of elephants in the clearing but the number of large males who have found their way to the clearing. With the abrupt arrival of the dry season the bulls arrive like clockwork and began their excavation of the clearing in their search for minerals. One big difference at the clearing is the change in the course of the stream which traverses its surface. During one of the big storms in July the stream, which is also called the Dzanga switched course and now flows further to the east side of the clearing. This has change the location of a few of the favorite holes which had traditionally been excavated during the dry season. This change however has not affected the dry season behavior of the bulls who spend their time digging, waiting and challenging each other over favorite mineral holes.

Dzanga Clearing - November 28th, 2008

I have included a photo of the clearing from yesterday, a week after the beginning of the dry season. There is lots of excavation of the bai surface by elephants. The only other mammals present are the group of forest buffalo who travel between Dzanga and another series of clearings to the east. With the dryness the number of sitatunga has dropped dramatically from a normal dozen to only one or two during the afternoon observations. With the increase in numbers we have seen several family groups reunited, some with newborns, making the reunions all that more exciting.

Guards and Trackers with Tusks, October 2008

A week after my return the local guard patrol found a dead elephant about two kilometers from camp. The carcass which they estimated to be about two weeks old still had its tusks. They were enormous and I estimated each one to weigh more than 25 kilograms. Even with all my strength I found it impossible to lift one of them. Our guess optimistically was that the bull was old and died of natural causes judging by the size of the tusks. However the other scenario, and this is common enough, is that the bull could have been shot and then ran a considerable distance before dying. In either case it was impressive to see a bull with such sizeable tusks in an area where poaching is common. The forest provides some protection making it difficult to eliminate all of the big tuskers, unlike in the savannah where hunting is a much easier venture.

With the arrival of the bulls work becomes more interesting because it is this part of the year when we see individual elephants we haven’t seen in a couple of years. This is particularly the case of the males in the population. During the past week we have seen several males whom we haven’t seen for a couple of years who confine their visits to the long dry season. Yesterday, Izzat spent all of the afternoon in the clearing. Returning to camp in the evening I was able to reidentify him with the identity cards and saw that the last time I had seen him was in early December of 2006. This was the case of another bull named Barrymore who appeared last week after an absence of one year. The dry season is a strong signal to many of the larger bulls for a return to Dzanga. How this timely navigation occurs will always remain a mystery.

Izza