Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Jun 21 2008 | By: dzangaforestelephants

We are still experiencing a period of calm in the area with our daily observations of elephant numbering between 70 and 100 elephants. Around camp which is located two kilometers from the clearing we have heard no gunshots so the area is safe for the moment. Three days ago however I saw two leopard skins that had been confiscated by park guards along with a massive amount of bush meat. The trove had been confiscated in the area north of the clearing which is infiltrated by poachers from a village notorious for illegal activity. One wonders how long such a level of poaching can be sustained for the smaller game.

We are also seeing a lot of musth amongst the younger bulls of the population. During the last three weeks we have seen three younger bulls in musth as well as three of the older well known bulls also in musth, Menelaus, Moses, and Malcolm. Orlo, a bull I described in an earlier blog, was observed guarding a female although he was not in musth.

Menelaus & Malcolm

Although there has been an abundance of musth observed in the clearing, the only copulation we have witnessed was between an non-musth male and a young female, Matoma III. Below is a photo of the mating. To the right is Matoma III’s mother, Matoma I and the younger sister of Matoma III, Matoma IV. The male was not guarding Matoma III but chased her around the bai and mated with her once he caught up with her. Matoma I and IV vocalized during the act and I could only interpret their sounds as ones of protest. This is usually the reaction of the other elephants during a mating, a chorus of vocalizations which start during the copulation and continue well after its completion. A lot of nervous energy in the air. This mating lasted less than a minute and then the male wandered off. Matoma III was observed on subsequent days in the clearing but attracted no other males.

Matoma III Mating

During a musth guard of a female there is far more romance than the scene depicted above. Musth males guarding females protect her from the younger randy males and allow her access to favored mineral sites in the bai. There is a rhythm to the scene and the younger and less dominant males skirt the edges of the clearing keeping close tabs on the courting couple. This guard usually last about 2-3 days when there are several copulations.

We should be well into a rainy period but since the end of May the rains have been scant which is unusual for this period of the year. There is cloud build up, thunder and lightning but very little rain. The surface of the clearing is dry and the elephants are still able to excavate holes for the extraction of minerals, an unusal sight for the month of June.

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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

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Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Jun 03 2008 | By: dzangaforestelephants

For those of us who are privileged enough to know a population of elephants, the first outstanding impression is how human they are. This is their most endearing quality. Family groups remain in close contact with each other, using vocalizations and when in proximity are very tactile. Knowing the individuals sets a stage for a continuing story and that is what really motivates those of us at sites where we can identify and observed the same individuals for long periods of time.

Forest elephants that I have observed are not particularly aggressive. In all the time I have spent here it has been rare to see a sustained fight between bulls. Forest bulls may face off but it is always momentarily with one eventually running off. Occasionally they may fight but it lasts no longer than a minute, unlike the battles between savannah bulls. Within the Dzanga population there are some definite personalities whose behavior one can predict after observing them at close range. One of the most predictable individuals is a young bull, called Orlo. We first identified him in September of 2005 and he makes his appearance at the clearing during the wetter months of the year. What makes Orlo unique is that he is one of a few bulls who is really aggressive and on any day we see him he inevitably attacks younger and smaller elephants. Other males are generally unaggressive toward calves and females but Orlo not only chases other elephants who are smaller than him but pushes and pokes them with his tusks. When this happens the other elephants in his vicinity move out of his way nervously and vocalize.

Orlo

A few days ago Orlo entered the bai with an adult female and her two calves and she appeared to be in estrous because Orlo did not leave her side and followed her wherever she went. He was not in musth and for the time that we have known him we have never seen him in musth. We thought the situation would change when Moses entered from the south and approached the favorite mineral hole. Moses who was in full musth didn’t detect the female in estrous and was more preoccupied with the mineral hole than any of the females in the clearing. When we left the clearing Orlo was still guarding the female.

One can only guess why Orlo tends to be aggressive toward other elephants who appear never to be posing a threat to him. Perhaps he was orphaned at a young age and was never properly disciplined by his mother or maybe he witnessed the poaching of his mother which resulted in such unique behavior. In the forest we do all our work on foot and Orlo is one of the elephants we would never want to meet on the path.

Orlo attacks pregnant female

Orlo attacks juvenile female

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Category: Elephants, Forest | Date: Jun 01 2008 | By: dzangaforestelephants

Protecting forest elephants is a much more difficult task than protecting Savannah elephants. The forest is thick and seeing the wildlife as well as locating the poachers is labor intensive. All the patrols here in the forests of Central Africa are done on foot, therefore covering only a small part of the protected areas. So despite enormous effort expended on anti poaching patrols the poachers always have the advantage where the vegetation covers everything. Flying over the forests presents a view of a vast sea of what looks like broccoli with the tree canopy covering everything, affording no glimpse into what is happening on the forest floor. Even if poachers are camped there within even sighting smoke from their camp fires is impossible. So the best tool in locating poachers is information from trusted sources. Guards have a difficult job not only in terms of their actual work but face harassment in the community where they are seen as a threat to many people’s livelihoods. In an area where employment is rife it is a job someone accepts for the money and not on the principle or interest of conserving wildlife. This is a harsh economic reality.

Park Guards

Hunting here is done for several species and includes several methods. The most widely hunted animal is duiker, a small forest antelope. These reproduce very quickly and are the most common animal for sale. They are generally caught using wire cable set on game paths in the forest. Another way of hunting them is at night with a gun. The local Bayaka people hunt them using two methods. The first is to call them by imitating their distress call which is a high, nasal whine. Various animals are attracted to this call and as they approach the animals can be speared or shot depending on the resources of the hunter. Perhaps the most exciting hunt of all is the net hunt with the Bayaka when everyone participates. The nets are made by hand using a forest vine from which twine is made, and then fashioned into a net. Several hunters string their nets together in a line or semi-circle and then beat the ground with branches and noise driving the animals into the net where they are trapped. Then the animals are killed by using a machete or stick. This all sounds cruel but of all the methods this is the most sustainable one and provides a good source of protein for forest people.

There are many arms used in poaching elephants and until about a decade ago only shot-guns, high caliber rifles, and home made guns were used here. Now we are seeing more and more Kalashnikovs or AK-47s. These are automatic weapons invented by a gentleman of the same name, Kalashnikov. They are responsible for so much suffering in the world being found in every war and civil conflict in the world. Poachers have found them to also be an effective weapon against animals especially bigger animals because it takes little skill with an AK-47. The Chinese also produced the same model of gun which is more widespread than the AK-47 and is cheaper which doesn’t bode well for the people and animals of this planet. With a couple of AK-47s one with a little skill can kill an elephant group in a few minutes. The sound of this gun in the forest from a distance sounds like a train coming at you. It reverberation fills the forest.

AK 47s or Kalashnikov

People here are very resourceful and if you don’t have the money to purchase a gun there are ways of making crude, rudimentary guns. These are called yalingas in the local language but since they are not precision instruments they often explode maiming the hunter. Another method is to modify ammunition making it more effective. Poachers take a 12 gauge shotgun shell removing all the shot and then melt the pellets to form a single piece of lead whose point is sharpened. This single piece of lead is put back into the shell casing. This is also dangerous and can cause a gun to explode in the hands of the hunter. These are used often in elephant poaching. Often they don’t kill the elephant but leave a huge hole in the animal. On several occasions we have seen wounded animals with sizable holes in their heads from these modified shells. My many years in Africa have been a continual lesson in the resourcefulness of people some of it positive but much of it negative.

Modified Shot Gun Shells

The Central African Republic until the 1980’s had thousands of elephants both forest and savannah species. This all changed with civil wars in both Chad and the Sudan which border the CAR on its northern borders. With wars in both countries there was spill over into CAR and the first casualty was the wildlife. Sudanese horsemen who formerly hunted with spears now had access to automatic weaponry and slaughtered thousands of elephants starting in the 1980’s and the poaching continues today. This area was vast and there was never enough resources for sufficient protection. Today the guns have been turned on the people who flee their villages and become refugees. So what was once a veritable eden has been transformed into hell.

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