The Assessment of elephant poaching in the population of the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania Moses Titus Kyando Natural Resources Management Submission date: May 2014 Supervisor: Eivin Røskaft, IBI Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Biology The Assessment of elephant poaching in the population of the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania Moses Titus Kyando Master’s thesis in Natural Resources Management Programme Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology Supervisor : Professor Eivin Røskaft (Department of Biology) Trondheim, May 2014 1 Dedication This thesis work is dedicated to my late mother Lucia Hussein Chumi for her love, care encouragement and support through the early stage of my life. 2 Abstract Elephant poaching is a significant problem in Tanzania and many parts of Africa. This study assess the patterns of elephant poaching for the international ivory trade on the population of the Eastern Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania. Data for assessing the patterns of elephants poaching from 2009 to 2013 were acquired by doing inventory on the demography of poached skulls in the field and assessing confiscated tusks. This is to infer the age and sex of killed elephants; also the season of death were obtained during the field assessment. By combining inferences of age and sex, poaching patterns of African elephants were assessed. Data on the distribution of poached elephants and the effect of poaching on the trophy-quality from tourist hunting were obtained from elephant mortality database of the Selous Game Reserve in the Eastern and North-eastern sectors. The GPS coordinates to determine the distribution of poached elephants were randomly collected by rangers during their daily patrol routine. The poaching patterns in the ESGR were non-selective. The incidences of poaching were higher during the wet season. Hotspots of poaching were identified on the edges of the ESGR. This was attributed by the involvement of local people adjacent the ESGR in poaching activities due to lack of economic opportunities. The patterns of elephant poaching can help to study the impact of poaching on Selous Game Reserve elephant populations. Also, hotspots poaching serve as tool to guide and inform reserve managers involved in wildlife conservation in Tanzania. Improved economic opportunities of local people; enhanced conservation education and research; and improved governance and law enforcement recommended addressing the problem of elephant poaching. Key words: Elephant poaching, poaching patterns, Illegal ivory trade and assessment of poaching 3 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to give God the glory for granting me this training opportunity and his protection during the entire period of my study. I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Eivin Roskaft for the useful comments, remarks and engagements throughout the learning process of this Master thesis. Without his invaluable guidance and help this thesis would not have been possible. Furthermore, I would like to thank my field supervisor, Dr. Dennis Ikanda of Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), my field assistants Miss Anna Mshanga and Miss Veronica Mallya for their support and cooperation. I would like to express my gratitude to the Norwegian State Education Fund under Quota scheme scholarship for full financial support to pursue my studies here at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. I am also grateful to the NTNU and the Department of Biology for making my training possible. I also express my thanks to my employer, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Natural resources and Tourism and Wildlife Division for granting me the permission to pursue this program. All the staff at the SGR project deserve special mention for being so welcoming and friendly; particularly Mr. Bigilamungu Kagoma, the sector Manager of North-eastern sector (Kingupira). I kindly appreciate my beloved brothers Cosato Chumi, Frank Kaguo and their families for their endless support and encouragement for the entire period of study. Many thanks are also due to my young sisters Beatrice Kimario, Devotha Sanga and my young brothers Nickta Sanga and Sebastian Chumi for their heartfelt encouragement during my studies. 4 Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 4 List of abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Poaching trend and illegal ivory trade ........................................................................................ 8 Problem statement ..................................................................................................................... 12 Significance of the study ........................................................................................................... 13 Objective ................................................................................................................................... 14 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................ 14 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 15 Study species ............................................................................................................................. 15 African elephant (Loxodonta africana) ................................................................................ 15 Description of the study area .................................................................................................... 18 Types of data ............................................................................................................................. 20 Data collection techniques ........................................................................................................ 20 Field assessment of skulls and teeth ..................................................................................... 21 Assessment of seized ivory tusks .......................................................................................... 21 Assessment of ivory from tourist hunting ............................................................................. 22 Use of GPS coordinates to obtain distances from the boundary of ESGR ........................... 22 Sex determination from skulls .............................................................................................. 22 Age determination from skull ............................................................................................... 22 Sex determination from tusk measurements ......................................................................... 25 Ageing elephants from tusk measurements .......................................................................... 25 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................. 26 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 26 Inferring age and sex of dead elephants from skulls and confiscated tusks ............................. 26 Seasons of poaching .................................................................................................................. 27 The sizes (weights) of ivory obtained from tourist hunting ...................................................... 28 Hotspot poaching areas ............................................................................................................. 29 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Limitations of the research ........................................................................................................ 30 Patterns of elephant poaching from age and sex of poached elephants .................................... 31 Seasons of poaching .................................................................................................................. 31 Hotspot poaching area............................................................................................................... 32 The effect of poaching on the trophy-quality of ivory from tourist hunting ............................ 33 Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................................................... 34 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 34 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 34 Improving economic opportunities of local people .............................................................