More poaching in Dzanga!
Category: Elephants | Date: May 05 2008 | By: admin
Another incident at Dzanga on the night of April 18th. We heard the sound of gunshot again at about 18:30 and from the sound we knew it to be an AK47. This is the strategy where here the sun sets at 18:00 and the poachers act knowing that guard patrols will not to risk the danger of trying to find the poachers and shooting in the dark. The local guard patrol was dispatched immediately to the clearing and upon their return a few hours later they said that they could hear the poachers chopping away at the elephant in order to quickly remove the tusks.
The next day we went to the clearing and found the dead elephant at edge of the clearing where he had collapsed after being shot. He was a young male and was most likely shot in the clearing and then dashed about 50 meters before falling. Yesterday the odor of the rotting corpse permeated the clearing and was a grim reminder of the poaching. In the clearing however we were surprised to see about 30 elephants who although cautious remained in the clearing for the afternoon. Among the elephants was Rachid, an impressive one tusker, who was in musth and trying to guard Juno. Juno was skirting his advances and they made several passes in and out of the bai. The sexuality was infectious because another younger bull tried to copulate with a young female which resulted in a frenzy of vocalizations from the other elephants in the bai.
Later in the afternoon another bull arrived in musth. I had seen him a week ago when he came to the clearing and wasn’t able to identify him for lack of time. This time I could clearly see and sketch his ears and identified him as Clyde. He headed for the same hole he occupied last week and didn’t pick up on the Juno being in estrous.
Since the last poaching incident the elephants have remained calm and their numbers have increased despite the constant danger. Yesterday we observed 80 elephants in the clearing as well as bongo, buffalo, sitatunga and hylochere (Giant forest hog) who have been scavenging on the most recent elephant carcass.
I think what amazes me about Dzanga is how unforgiving these elephants can be or it may be more sinister, perhaps Dzanga is the safest place for them in the area and they have few choices about where to go.
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