Pachyderm 36
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January – June 2004 Number 36 ISSN 1026 2881 IUCN journal of the African Elephant, African Rhino The World Conservation Union and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups January–June 2004 No. 36 1Chair reports / Rapports des présidents 1African Elephant Specialist Group / Groupe des Spécialistes des Eléphants d’Afrique S PECIES Holly T. Dublin S URVIVAL C OMMISSION 8African Rhino Specialist Group / Groupe des Spécialistes des Rhinos d’Afrique Editor Martin Brooks Helen van Houten 11 Asian Rhino Specialist Group / Groupe des Assistant Editor Spécialistes des Eléphants d’Asie Pam Dali Mwagore Mohd Khan bin Momin Khan with Thomas J. Editorial Board Foose and Nico van Strien Holly Dublin 16 Research Esmond Martin Leo Niskanen 16 Monitoring law enforcement and illegal Robert Olivier activities in the northern sector of the Parc National des Virunga, Democratic Republic of Nico van Strien Congo Lucy Vigne Leonard Mubalama and Norbert Mushenzi Design and layout 30 Impact of dam construction on two elephant Damary Odanga populations in northern Cameroon Address all correspondence, Hans H. de Iongh, Martin T. Tchamba, Per including enquiries about Aarhaug and Bas Verhage subscription, to 44 Elephant numbers, group structure and The Editor, Pachyderm movements on privately owned land adjacent PO Box 68200, 00200 to Tsavo East National Park, Kenya Nairobi, Kenya Barbara McKnight tel: +254 20 576461 52 Elephants (Loxodonta africana) of Zoba Gash fax: +254 20 570385 Barka, Eritrea: Part 2. Numbers and email: [email protected] distribution, ecology and behaviour, and Web site: www.iucn.org/afesg fauna and flora in their ecosystem Jeheskel Shoshani, Yohannes Hagos, Yohannes Yacob, Medhanie Ghebrehiwet and Emun Kebrom This document has been produced with the financial 69 Impacts humains sur les aires de distribution et assistance of the European couloirs de migration des éléphants au Togo Commission. The views Okoumassou Kotchikpa, Durlot Sophie, expressed herein are those of the authors and can Akpamou Kokouvi et Segniagbeto therefore in no way be Hoinsounde taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. Cover: Desert-adapted elephants in Damaraland, Namibia Photo: Gene Eckhart journal of the African Elephant, African Rhino and January–June 2004 No. 36 Asian Rhino Specialist Groups 80 Managing human–elephant conflicts: the Kenyan experience Patrick Omondi, Elphas Bitok and Joachim Kagiri 87 Rhino poaching in Nepal during an insurgency Esmond Martin 99 Policy 99 Ecological basis of the new elephant management policy for Kruger National Park and expected outcomes Ian J. Whyte 109 Field notes 109 Black rhinoceros mortality in Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe: 1992–2003 Geoffreys Matipano 113 Coprophagy and unusual thermoregulatory behaviour in desert-dwelling elephants of north-western Namibia Keith Leggett 116 Working paper 116 Determining the number of elephants required to supply current unregulated ivory markets in Africa and Asia Nigel Hunter, Esmond Martin and Tom Milliken 129 Reader response 129 Clarifying MIKE and ETIS Nigel Hunter and Tom Milliken 133 Note from the African Rhino Specialist Group 133 Update on the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project Pam Sherriffs 134 Book review 134 The return of the unicorns: the natural history and conservation of the greater one-horned rhinoceros, by Eric Dinerstein, review by Kees Rookmaaker 136 Report 136 Sixth meeting of the African Elephant Specialist Group Leo Niskanen 140 Guide to contributors Views expressed in Pachyderm are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN, the Species Survival Commision or any of the three Specialist Groups responsible for producing Pachyderm (the African Elephant Specialist Group, the African Rhino Specialist Group and the Asian Rhino Specialist Group) Chair reports/Rapports des presidents CHAIR REPORTS RAPPORTS DES PRESIDENTS African Elephant Specialist Group report Rapport du Groupe des Spécialistes des Eléphants d’Afrique Holly T. Dublin, Chair/Président PO Box 68200, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya; email: [email protected] There are many achievements to report since the last Il s’est passé beaucoup de choses depuis la dernière time I sat down to write my Chair’s report. These fois que je me suis assise pour rédiger mon rapport include the production and dissemination of the Afri- de présidente. Parmi elles, on peut compter la rédac- can elephant status report 2002 and the IUCN/SSC tion et la publication du African elephant status re- AfESG guidelines for the in situ translocation of the port 2002 et des IUCN/SSC AfESG guidelines for the African elephant for conservation purposes, another in situ translocation of the African Elephant for con- successful meeting of the African Elephant Special- servation purposes (Lignes directrices du GSEAf / ist Group, major progress with the listing of the Afri- CSE/IUCN relatives au transfert in situ d’éléphants can elephant by the IUCN Red List criteria, as well d’Afrique à des fins de conservation), une autre as the continued development of national and réunion fructueuse du Groupe des Spécialistes de subregional elephant conservation strategies across l’Eléphant d’Afrique, des progrès considérables dans the continent. Details of these developments are pro- l’inscription de l’éléphant africain selon les critères vided below. de la Liste Rouge de l’UICN, et la poursuite du However, despite these successes, the search for développement de stratégies nationales et sous- funding to support AfESG’s core activities remains a régionales pour la conservation de l’éléphant dans tout major challenge. Herculian efforts have been under- le continent. Des détails sur ces développements se taken by the AfESG Secretariat in the past few months trouvent plus bas. to raise enough money to continue operations beyond Malgré ces succès, la recherche de fonds pour November 2004, when our core support from the couvrir les activités de base du GSEAf reste un chal- European Commission ends. Unfortunately, so far lenge de chaque instant. Le Secrétariat du GSEAf a these efforts have not borne any fruit and our hopes produit des efforts herculéens ces derniers mois pour now rest on a few crucial proposals, currently under pouvoir poursuivre ses activités au-delà de novembre consideration by various donors. 2004, date à laquelle notre support principal fourni par la Commission européenne vient à échéance. The Sixth AfESG members meeting Hélas, jusqu’à présent, ces efforts n’ont pas porté de fruits, et nos espoirs reposent désormais sur quelques The sixth meeting of the African Elephant Specialist propositions cruciales qui sont actuellement entre les Group took place in Mokuti Lodge in Namibia from mains de divers donateurs. 4 to 8 December 2003. The meeting was attended by 34 out of the current 48 AfESG members and was funded by the European Commission. Pachyderm No. 36 January–June 2004 1 Dublin The meeting was a great success with significant La Sixième réunion des membres du progress made on the listing of the African elephant GSEAf using the IUCN Red List criteria, the establishment of a special task force to develop a technical docu- La sixième réunion du Groupe des Spécialistes des ment on the options for dealing with local overpopu- Eléphants d’Afrique s’est tenue au Mokuti Lodge, en lation of elephants, and the initial exercises in a Namibie, du 4 au 8 décembre 2003. 34 des 48 scenario-planning approach to explore possible fu- membres actuels du GSEAf ont participé à la réunion tures for the African elephant over the next 30 to 50 qui était financée par la Commission européenne. years. Other key developments included drafting a Ce fut un grand succès : on a réalisé des progrès statement on the capture of African elephants from significatifs vers l’inscription de l’éléphant africain, the wild for captive purposes, updating AfESG’s qui répond aux critères de la Liste Rouge de l’UICN ; statement on elephant taxonomy, and rich technical il y eut aussi la création d’une force spéciale chargée discussions on human–elephant conflict, and illegal de préparer un document technique sur les différentes killing and trade. A summary of these discussions is options possibles pour pallier les surpopulations lo- provided on pages 136–138 of this issue. cales d’éléphants et les premiers exercices d’une approche qui utilise divers scénarii pour envisager The African Elephant Database différents futurs pour l’éléphant africain dans les 30 à 50 prochaines années. Parmi d’autres développements After a four-year-long ‘labour of love’, AfESG’s Data substantiels, il y eut la préparation d’une déclaration Review Working Group finally produced the long- sur la capture d’éléphants africains dans la nature pour awaited African Elephant Status Report 2002 (Blanc les mettre en captivité, la mise à jour de la déclaration et al. 2003). Containing the latest information on the du GSEAf sur la taxonomie de l’éléphant, et de continent-wide status of the African elephant, AESR fructueuses discussions techniques sur les conflits 2002 was officially launched on 26 November 2003 hommes–éléphants, sur les massacres illégaux et sur and a press release was issued and posted on the En- le commerce. Un résumé de ces discussions se trouve vironmental News Network and IUCN websites. Ar- dans les pages 136–138 de ce numéro. ticles about the report were published in Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), BBC News Online and the La Base de Données de l’Eléphant Canadian journal Quebec Science, and interviews Africain were given to radio stations in South Africa and Spain. Many favourable responses have been received, along Après quatre années d’un travail « accompli avec with a few critical comments for good measure and plaisir », le Groupe de travail du GSEAf chargé de la to keep us on our toes for future updates. The report révision des Données a produit le tant attendu Afri- has now been widely distributed to wildlife authori- can Elephant Status Report 2002 (Blanc et al.