U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant Benefits Maasai Steppe Elephants

Conservationists now have more resources to study the elephants of the Maasai Steppe and protect their habitat, thanks to an $80,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

AWF partners at the Tarangire Elephant Project (TEP) and Manyara Ranch will use the grant money to study elephant migration and behavior and enhance conservation efforts over the next two years. The project hopes to hire more local villagers to act as "eyes and ears" in the elephant conservation effort. In addition, the grant will fund participatory conflict management efforts in areas where human and wildlife interests compete and will strengthen anti-poaching efforts throughout the region. TEP Directors Charles and Lara Foley hope to be able to work with staff at Manyara Ranch to train scouts and monitor elephant movement into and out of the ranch.

The project, supported by the USFWS African Elephant Conservation Fund, will add to the scientific understanding of elephants in the Kwakuchinja Corridor and southern part of the Maasai Steppe Heartland and will be useful in informing conservation efforts at the new Mkungunero Game Reserve, an important part of the elephant corridor directly south of Tarangire National Park.

TEP Directors Charles and Lara Foley have been studying the Tarangire elephant population since 1993 using techniques developed by the Amboseli Elephant Research Project. Charles Foley's original research focused on the long-term effects of poaching on elephant population dynamics and has since expanded to include elephant ranging patterns in Tarangire National Park and the resulting human-wildlife conflicts. Over the years TEP has evolved from a research project into an effective elephant conservation effort. Working closely with AWF and other elephant conservationists, TEP's goal is to find a balance for the people and wildlife by keeping rangeland open to the elephants while making the presence of these formidable animals beneficial to the people who also live off that land.

In general, Charles Foley focuses his study on the Northern sub-population, one of the three sub-populations in Tarangire National Park. He performs census counts, monitors births and deaths, and makes behavioral observations. Using photographs of distinctive elephant features like ears, tusks and vein patterns, Foley has catalogued 1,100 individuals in 32 family groups. Today, the Tarangire and Amboseli elephants are the only two savanna elephant populations whose individuals can be recognized.

Elephants are an essential component of the Maasai Steppe ecosystem and they create habitats for numerous species by dispersing seeds and modifying the landscape as they migrate. When they are confined by park boundaries and human settlements, however, elephants modify the habitat to an unnatural degree and upset the ecological balance. Thus, for both the elephant population and the numerous species they support, the identification and protection of migration corridors and dispersal areas outside of parks is critical.