Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Sep 24 2009 | By: dzangaforestelephants

I’m away from Dzanga for a few days visiting the capital city of Bangui for a few errands. The trip is difficult, a long bumpy 500 kilometer stretch through bush with no ammenities. Most of the road is unpaved and with the rains and lack of maintenance the trip is an ordeal. This time I travelled to Bangui two days ago and will return tomorrow, a record trip since I usually spend at least five days in Bangui before the return to the bush.

Along the way there are a few stops to stretch and search for the basic food which some of the small towns offer. This time during one of the stops this child approached and was wearing this t-shirt which I explained to a group of children. On the t- shirt was a short poem extolling the virtues of the elephant in English. Its owner probably had bought it in the used clothing market. During this encounter I had a captive audience in a place where schools barely function and a foreigner speaking their language is somewhat of a novelty.

None of these local children had ever seen an elephant in the wild and when I asked about them they told me how elephants were dangerous. I explained that this wasn’t ususally true and how the Central African Republic once had thousands of elephants but because of poaching their numbers had been severely reduced. How sad I thought that these children would probably never see an elephant in the wild even though their country had both savannah and forest elephants within its borders. One question I always ask Central Africans who visit Dzanga Clearing is if they had ever seen elephants in the wild before visiting the clearing. For ninety nine percent of African visitors this was their first experience of seeing and observing the biggest land mammal.

Of all animals, elephants are the most prevalent in advertising where they appear not only on t shirts but detergent boxes, beer bottles and a variety of products. Sadly to say they will soon exist as flat images serving as an advertising logos rather than a fellow inhabitant of the planet.

L

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: dzangaforestelephants

The rainiest month is upon us and today it rained lightly twice with the sun shining through. The humidity is about 100% today without the rain making for a very uncomfortable environment.

Lots of happenings here at present. A large film crew has been working on a feature film for the last three months. This is the second time this has happened in the area. In 1986 or thereabouts there was another feature film made by a French crew the area featuring the local Bayaka population, this time will undoubtedly be better. The Bayaka are natural actors and are much more at ease in front of the camera.

The disheartening news is another poaching incident in the neighboring research camp which is devoted to Western Lowland Gorilla habituation. It is reported that at least two elephants were killed last week. Poachers were arrested and an arm confiscated but the main culprit who was arrested with the others escaped. He is well known for his elephant poaching activities and has been arrested before. Recidivism is the rule for elephant poachers who are usually well protected by people in powerful places. This worrisome since if the poaching is taking place in proximity to research camps I hate to think what the poaching is like beyond the range of our hearing. As the animals are being compressed into the national park area poaching will undoubtedly increase in the coming years.

Elephants are perceived here as destructive dangerous animals. Here on the ground we have had few negative experiences with elephants. We pay close attention when we happen upon them in the forest to and from the bai and there have been only a handful of times when I felt there was a real danger. On our return home in the evening we often encounter bulls in the river who sometimes contest our presence. Below is an example of what happens when one bull elephant doesn’t wish to give up his mineral spot in the river in the late afternoon. The person in the foreground is Azobe, one of the crack trackers/assistants who is fearless and has assured my safety for many years.

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