Acknowledgments

ver the nearly 40 years of the Amboseli Ele- Financial support for AERP has come from many phant Research Project (AERP), there are obvi- sources. So many people and organizations have been gen- O ously many, many individuals, organizations, and erous over all these years, and their backing has been cru- bodies that deserve acknowledgment. The institutional and cial. Some have given private money, others, through their monetary support of these many entities made it possible to own or family foundations. Many stand out for support- start the research and, most importantly, to keep it going ing AERP almost from the beginning and year after year over a very long period. Without them there would have thereafter. We would like to thank the following major do- been no project, and we would know far less about ele- nors (in alphabetical order): the African Wildlife Founda- phants than we do today. tion, Bob Barker, Beginning with Children, the Born Free We would like to start by thanking those who have sup- Foundation, the Leonard X. Bosack and Bette M. Kruger ported the overall project. The individual authors’ acknowl- Charitable Foundation, the Lynne Chase Wildlife Founda- edgments will follow. tion, Angela and Graham Chidgey, Dr. Charles Colao, the First and foremost, we thank the Kenya government Cedar Hill Foundation, Laura and Jack Dangermond, the for their hospitality and their permission to study the ele- Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund, the Donner Founda- phants, which are their precious natural resource. In par- tion, the Detroit Zoological Society, the East Bay Zoologi- ticular we thank the Government of Kenya Offi ce of the cal Society, ESRI, the Fair Play Foundation, the Howard President and the National Council of Science and Tech- Gilman Foundation, Steven Gold (through the Wildlife nology for research clearance; the former Kenya National Conservation Network), Deanna Gursky, the International Parks and former Wildlife Conservation and Management Fund for Animal Welfare, the National Geographic Society, Department, and the present- day Kenya Wildlife Service for Jan and Vic Overman, the Pumpkin Foundation, the Rogers permission to work and reside in Amboseli National Park. Family Foundation, Willard and Susannah Rouse, Jane and The Kenyan Wildlife Service, DRSRS (formerly KREMU), Paul Schosberg, the Shifting Foundation, the Synchronicity and the National Museums of Kenya provided local spon- Foundation, the Tapeats Fund, the African Elephant Con- sorship. We are grateful to all these institutions for permis- servation Fund of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the sions and support. Wallis Foundation, and Wildlife Conservation International We would also like to thank our hosts in the greater (formerly the New York Zoological Society). We thank Ste- Amboseli ecosystem—the Ilkisongo Maasai, and particu- phen Woo, who in addition to being a consistent donor, cre- larly the leaders of the seven group ranches surrounding the ated and hosted the Elephant Trust Web site. Park. They have been consistently hospitable and always Special thanks go to the organizations that helped us at willing to work hard to try to fi nd ways to accommodate the very beginning back in 1972 when we were trying to elephants on their land. get started. The African Wildlife Foundation helped to raise xii Acknowledgments funds, administratively housed the project, and then contin- back in 1981, with the help of Duncan MacKinder, allowed ued to so for the next 28 years. Their support was crucial us to use their mainframe computer for storing and ana- and much appreciated. Cash and in- kind support in those lyzing the data up to November of that year. Almost an- early days were also provided by the University of Nairobi other 20 years went by before we were able to enter the new Biology of Conservation program within the Zoology De- data. Paul Krystall designed a database and a user-friendly partment, the Ford Foundation, and the East African Wild data entry system for the long- term sightings; all the data Life Society. were entered by the end of 2000. Two years later when we Many individuals have been loyal supporters and enthu- wanted to amalgamate the Cambridge database with the siasts of the project over the years and have shown their new one, we ran into serious problems. Truly a knight in concern in many ways, including simply writing or sending shining armor came along in the form of Hans- George a small gift to boost our morale in hard times. There are Michna, a computer wizard and friend of AERP. He worked too many to acknowledge individually but we thank you his magic and by 2003 we fi nally had a working database. for your caring and your steadfastness to the project and Hans continues to sort out problems with the database as the elephants. well as hosting our website and e- mail. He does all of this The Amboseli Elephant Research Project became a part on a volunteer basis and we cannot thank him enough. We of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants when ATE was created also thank Justine Cordingley for extracting behavioral data in 2000. The ATE exists as a not-for- profi t trust both in the from the fi eld notes. United States and in Kenya. The writing of this book has oc- Many of the analyses and ideas on differences in spa- curred under its auspices. We would like to thank the Board tial distributions originated from the ideas and insights of of Trustees for their support, help, and encouragement John Calkins of ESRI, the Environmental Systems Research throughout: (in alphabetical order) David Breskin, Nan Bu- Institute, who, together with Liz Sarrow, set up our GIS, zard, Lynn Chase, Wilton W. Cogswell IV, Catherine Grel- programmed the analysis tools, and produced the originals let, Neill Heath, Kathryn Heminway, Richard Leakey, Bruce of many of the fi gures and maps used in this volume. ESRI Ludwig, Lia Reed, Isabella Rossellini, Susannah Rouse, and generously supported the GIS research. Don Young. (The ATE- Kenya trustees—Cynthia Moss, A number of other individuals on behalf of their organi- Harvey Croze, Joyce Poole, and Soila Sayialel—are all con- zations have provided data or data acquisition support, and tributors to this volume.) The ATE’s Executive Director in particular thanks are due to: Jenifer Austin and Tanya Keen the United States, Betsy Swart, deserves a huge thanks for for an on-going license for GoogleEarth-Pro; Russ Kruska all that she did to create and develop ATE- US, all that she and Fred Atieno of ILRI for GIS advice and data; Paul does to keep the organization running, and for the special Manson of the Trimble Corporation for support to early at- help she gives all of us in big and small ways. tempts at automated data- capture; David Murray for free A number of donors and organizations helped with the access to Propel Accelerator software; Peter Ndunda (a for- writing of this book. We particularly want to thank Robert mer ATE-supported postgrad) of the Greenbelt Movement and Joan Donner and Joseph and Carol Reich, who sup- for being a 24 / 7 GIS helpdesk; Willy Simons and the tal- ported writing workshops and stipends through their foun- ented staff of ESRI- East Africa for ArcGIS updates and sup- dations: the Donner Foundation and the Jewish Communal port; Asbindu Singh, Paul Akiwumi, and Michael Mwangi Fund. The Barbara Delano Foundation paid for the creation of UNEP, Mark Ernste of the USGS EROS Data Center, and of the Access data base needed to carry out the analysis of Rose Mayienda of AWF for providing satellite and GIS Am- the long-term data. Other organizations and individuals boseli data. provided critical sponsorship in the form of workshops and All research was carried out under the guidelines of the writing retreats. We especially thank the White Oak Con- Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) for servation Center (with particular thanks to John Lucas and the treatment of wild animals during fi eld work, and ethical Becky Thompson), where the editors and sub- editors held clearance for research was obtained from all relevant insti- two important workshops; the National Center for Ecologi- tutions and departments. cal Analysis and Synthesis (with particular thanks to Sandy Each of the authors in this book would like to thank the Andelman, Jim Reichman, and Kirsten Parris), where on all-important fi eld staff—Soila Sayialel, Norah Wamaitha three different occasions the authors and editors worked Njiraini, and Catherine Katito Sayialel—for their participa- in a very stimulating atmosphere analyzing data; and Su- tion in every element of the project. Without their dedica- sannah Rouse, who hosted our group at the Lewa Conser- tion and hard work, this research would not be half as suc- vancy, where we held a very productive three- week writing cessful or productive. They have collected fecal and tissue retreat. samples, measured footprints, did focal samples, recorded Some individuals were instrumental in helping with the sightings, carried out censuses, maintained the AERP long- 30- plus years of data analysis. First Cambridge University, term records, and rescued elephants and many people. In Acknowledgments xiii addition, they have contributed to the writing of a number further supported by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, the of papers and chapters in this volume. Their commitment Amboseli Elephant Research Project, and Duke University. to the elephants is unparalleled and unwavering. We also Christine Browne- Nuñez thanks Cynthia Moss, Susan want to thank Robert Ntuawasa Sayialel for his work on Jacobson, and Jerry Vaske for advice; and for funding, the the sightings, long- term records, and tracking data, as well U.S. Fulbright Program, the Disney Wildlife Conservation as general IT support in the fi eld. Last but not by any means Fund, the Sea World and Busch Gardens Conservation least, we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Pu- Fund, and the Lincoln Park Zoo Africa / Asia Field Conser- rity Waweru, our ATE administrator, who provides a large vation Fund. At the University of Florida, she thanks the array of backstopping services for the project. Alumni Graduate Fellowship Fund, the Department of The staff at the research camp has kept us comfortable Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, the Tropical Conser- and well-fed over the years. We thank the past staff: the in- vation and Development Program, and the African Studies comparable Masaku Sila, Wambua Kativa, Saibulu ole Ka- Program for funding. lama, Saruni ole Seleka; and the present staff: Peter Ngandi Dick Byrne and Lucy Bates were supported by a project (who has now been with us for 25 years), Josephat Kim- grant from the Leverhulme Trust (F / 00 268 / W) and ac- inza, Daniel Somoire, and Nkoshopu ole Kiluku. They have knowledge the importance of the continual collaboration made working and living in Amboseli a pleasure. of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in their study of the The Amboseli tourist lodge managers have provided sup- cognition of the African elephant. port and encouragement to the project in various ways, in- Harvey Croze would like to acknowledge the inestimable cluding delicious meals, cold drinks, meeting rooms, wa- contribution of his Oxford professor, the late Niko Tinber- ter, and access to freezers and mechanics. We thank the gen, who together with co– Nobel Laureates Konrad Lorenz many managers at Serena, Amboseli, Ol Tukai, and Tortilis and Otto von Frisch wrested the study of animal behavior lodges. The guides from Ker & Downey Ltd. have been sup- from the confi nes of the laboratory to the fi eld, where it portive in many ways and always hospitable. evolves and belongs. He reiterates the project’s thanks for Over the years many wildlife researchers have worked the support of ESRI and Jack and Laura Dangermond and in Amboseli creating a stimulating and cooperative atmo- their staff in helping us establish AmboGIS. He also wants sphere. We have appreciated the kindness and friendship of to acknowledge and thank the following individuals: Edwin these scientists. Getting together for drinks, dinner, maybe Bulte, Richard Damania, and Randy Stringer for getting us even a swim at one of the lodge pools was always a plea- started on thinking about payments for ecosystem services; sure and often resulted in new ideas and new ways of look- David Campbell and Jenny Olsen for a constant and stimu- ing at something our respective study animals were doing. lating source of ideas and data on the human- wildlife in- We start by thanking Jeanne and Stuart Altmann, Susan terface; Iain Douglas- Hamilton and Save the Elephants for Alberts, and the late Amy Samuels of the Amboseli Baboon continuing encouragement and support over the years and Project, which has been operating even longer than the ele- providing some of the ranging data and operational ex- phant project. We thank the non- elephant researchers who penses associated with conventional and satellite collaring shared the camp: Dorothy Cheney, Marc Hauser, the late operations; Norman Owen-Smith for ecosystem insights; Wes Henry, Cynthia Jensen, Lynne Isbell, Stuart Semple, and David Western for introducing us to the Amboseli ele- and Robert Seyfarth. Of the other researchers with their phants in 1972. Thanks also to Cynthia Moss, Phyllis Lee, own housing, we thank Kay Behrensmeyer, David Klein, Joyce Poole, and Soila Sayialel for generously welcoming David Maitumo, David Western, and Richard Wrang- me back to the project after nearly 17 years of wandering ham for their input in so many ways. The following are elsewhere like an Amboseli bull. And, at the end of the day, the editors’ and authors’ acknowledgments (in alphabeti- heartfelt thanks to Cristina Boelcke for encouragement, cal order): ideas, management advice, and time. Susan Alberts acknowledges the generous support of the Iain Douglas- Hamilton thanks Discovery Communica- National Science Foundation (IBN0091612), which cov- tions, Inc., who paid for the GPS and standard radio- collars, ered all aspects of the genetics work on the Amboseli ele- and Save the Elephants, who paid for the operational ex- phants, and thanks the Amboseli Elephant Research Project penses. for fi nancial, logistical, and scientifi c support on all the fi eld Julie Hollister- Smith thanks the Amboseli Elephant Re- phases of the research. search Project for scientifi c and logistical support, N. Geor- Beth Archie thanks Tom Morrison, who helped collect giadis for help collecting tissue samples, and M. Lavine elephant observations, and Jasmine Powell, Ebony Scales, and E. Vance of the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sci- and Courtney Fitzpatrick, who extracted DNA from ele- ences at Duke University for statistical advice. The genetics phant samples. The genetics work was funded by the Na- work was supported by the National Science Foundation tional Science Foundation (IBN-0091612 to S. Alberts), and (IBN0091612) to S. C. Alberts. xiv Acknowledgments

Kadzo Kangwana thanks Tim Clutton- Brock, Phyl- and lows of the long-term research. In addition to all the lis Lee, Cynthia Moss, and Joyce Poole for advice, and the funders already mentioned, she is thankful to the MacAr- African Wildlife Foundation and the Cambridge Common- thur Foundation for her 5-year fellowship from 2002 to wealth Trust for funding. 2006. Andy Dobson and Phyllis Lee provided her with as- Phyllis Lee thanks Robert Hinde for his early encourage- sistance and a temporary base for writing and analysis for ment and guidance, Pat Bateson at Madingley, Cambridge, this book at Princeton and Cambridge University. for supporting her fi rst elephant project, and all the mem- Hamisi Mutinda thanks the Amboseli Elephant Research bers of the AERP for inspiration and friendship over 30- Project and especially Cynthia Moss for support and advice plus years. She would also like to thank the many members during data collection and analysis, and the African Wildlife of the Amboseli Baboon Project, who have been friends, Foundation and AERP for funding. colleagues, and a sounding board for ideas about a variety Joyce Poole is grateful for support from Smith College, of species. A host of PhD students have become collabora- Kings College (University of Cambridge), the New York Zo- tors and colleagues, and all of them have contributed to ological Society, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National her sanity and science—thanks to you all! She thanks Vicki Institute for Mental Health, the National Geographic So- Fishlock and Lizzie Webber for reading chapters, Michelle ciety, Care for the Wild, the African Elephant Conservation Klailova for help with fi gure production, and Leslie Smith Fund of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Born Free, Crys- for growth analyses. Financial support has come from tal Springs Foundation, Klingenstein Family Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Association for the Winnick Family Foundation, International Fund for Animal Study of Animal Behaviour, Downing College (University Welfare, and many, many generous individuals over many of Cambridge), the Department of Biological Anthropology years. She thanks Betty Horner (in memoriam) at Smith (University of Cambridge), the Department of Psychology College for her boundless enthusiasm and mentoring; and (University of Stirling), the Carnegie Trust for Scottish Uni- Robert Hinde at Cambridge University and Dan Rubenstein versities, and the AERP. at Princeton University for their direction, advice, and en- Keith Lindsay thanks Keith Eltringham (in memoriam) couragement. She is grateful to all those in AERP for their for his tireless supervision, David Western, David Maitumo, friendship, support, and collaboration over so many years. and the Olgulului- Lolarashi Group Ranch members for lo- She wishes to acknowledge Sarah Benson- Amram for her cal knowledge and assistance, KWS wardens and local staff painstaking measurements of elephant calls. She is thank- for help and cooperation, AERP and Cambridge colleagues ful to Petter Granli for his assistance and his understanding for advice and good friendship, Sally and the home team for over the protracted years of analysis and writing; Cynthia their support and patience, and the Natural Sciences and Jensen and Virginia Poole for taking time out to look after Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, the Selengei during the writing workshops, and Selengei for her New York Zoological Society, the A. J. Keith Fund, and the tolerance. East African Wild Life Society for funding. The editors would like to thank the following scientists Karen McComb thanks the many people who have for commenting on chapters in draft form or advising on helped with fi eld observations, playbacks, and analysis. analyses: Fred Bercovitch, Tim Clutton- Brock, Robin Dun- The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Coun- bar, Kate Evans, Vicki Fishlock, Sarah Hrdy, Phil Kahl, cil provided the major funding for her research (grant no. Dan Levitis, Miryam Niamir- Fuller, Norman Owen-Smith, 85 / S07659). Additional fi nancial support or equipment Henrik Rasmussen, Robin Reid, Joanna Setchell, Angela came from the African Wildlife Foundation, the Associa- Stoeger- Horwath, Charles Vanpraet, and Cathleen Wilson. tion for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Newnham College Our editors at the University of Chicago Press have from (University of Cambridge), the Natural Environment Re- the beginning been gentle and encouraging. We thank the search Council, the Nuffi eld Foundation, the Royal Society, late Susan Abrams for her faith in us at the start, Christie and the Tusk Trust. Henry for her patience and enthusiasm, and Abby Collier Cynthia Moss wishes to thank Iain Douglas- Hamilton for seeing us through the last stages. We thank Martyn Col- for introducing her to the joy of studying elephants; Robert beck for providing the photos for the book and for his posi- Hinde for teaching her how to study elephants; and David tive spirit, sense of humor, and support when he was fi lming Western for inviting her to study the Amboseli elephants. in Amboseli. She is grateful to Harvey Croze for his collaboration in Finally, we would like to thank the elephants of Am- the fi rst several years of the project and again in the last boseli. They have given us hours, days, and years of wonder 14 years. She thanks all the other collaborators who have and joy. joined the project over the years and have shared the highs