Forest Elephant Project in Central Africa

Since President Omar Bongo of Gabon signed a decree establishing 13 new national parks in his country last year, conservation minds have been focusing on the considerable biodiversity that these parks support-especially the dynamic megafauna of the region, including forest elephants. Where do elephants travel in the vast tracks of forest covering the remarkable Congo Basin of central Africa?

Forest elephants, unlike their savanna counterparts, are smaller in stature with straighter, thinner tusks. Other than basic knowledge, however, there is little information about these elephants living in the dense forests of central Africa. Forest elephants range in an area rife with political instability and human poverty, placing this fragile population at high risk for human exploitation. Compounded by ecological changes occurring in their increasingly fragmented habitat, a better understanding of the forest elephants’ range and health profile is essential for developing recommendations for their long-term conservation.

For the past 3 years, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Field Veterinary Program (FVP) has been working in collaboration with the WCS Africa Program to investigate forest elephant ecology and health. With the assistance of highly trained Pygmy trackers, forest elephants have been located, immobilized, and fitted with GPS satellite collars for long-term telemetry studies. During these immobilizations, biological samples such as ectoparasites, feces, blood, and skin biopsies are collected as part of an ongoing health assessment, which is of critical importance for the effective conservation of this species. An objective of the study is to determine the range of the forest elephants in a critical area of their habitat. The program intends to accomplish this by collaring elephants in the Lope National Park, Ivindo NP, Minkebe NP, and Iguela NP in Gabon, and the Odzala NP in the Congo over several months beginning July 2003.

The FVP took on this task with vigor and keen anticipation. Dr. Michael Kock, a world-renowned African wildlife expert, was recruited to help with the challenge of studying forest elephants. He joined the FVP team in July of this year. Three Ba’Aka Pygmy trackers from the Congo (Mambeleme, Mossimbo, and Sylvan) and two from Gabon (Mondele and Jean-Claude) were brought to La Lope National Park to round out the elephant monitoring program team led by WCS ecologist Dr. Steve Blake and Ludo Momont, a WCS elephant researcher.

This summer, the team managed to successfully immobilize five forest elephants along the savanna/forest edges in Lope. This work is strikingly different from the typical darting drama seen on television, demanding far more skills in tracking and silently approaching these animals (before darting and once again after) without protection of vehicles or helicopters.

From Lope, the team traveled to Ivindo by train and then hiked in to the WCS base camp located 10 km from Langoué Bai. The elephants there seem to disappear when the rainy season ends: Where do they go? This was the question that hung in the air as work began in Langoué Bai.

Extraordinary is an inadequate description for Langoué Bai-it is a stunning clearing in an otherwise endless forest, with a sparkling river running through it. Elephants and gorillas visit to sample succulent vegetation, drink water, and dig for minerals and salt. Elephants and gorillas intermingle respectfully around the pans-a surreal sight. The elephant capture team quickly realized that Langoué Bai would be a different challenge as the first group of bulls (with one individual with extraordinary tusks) picked up the scent of the team and stampeded into the forest in a spray of water and loud trumpeting.

The team worked carefully around the Bai, and in two days they managed to immobilize two bulls, one of which had large tusks rarely seen in African elephants anymore. These bulls presented unique challenges, but the cows proved even more wary and reluctant. The team shifted strategies and began their days at 4:00 A.M. with a walk through the forest by torchlight, like a procession of fireflies. Stalking elephants as the morning mist swirls about is somewhat surreal, but the team took advantage of the extra cover in the half-light and successfully immobilized two female elephants in another two days.

The collected biological samples, once analyzed, will provide a health profile of the forest elephant population in the region, and the GPS satellite collars, over time, will help us better understand the forest elephants’ range and ecology. As populations become more isolated, this information will be a vital component of forging sound management plans for this species. To help fund the WCS Field Veterinary Program and its efforts to save wildlife in central Africa, click here.

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