WESSA - 90 Years of People Caring for the Earth

the project name suggests, the Midmar to Albert Falls Biosphere Reserve initiative was originally planned for the Umgeni Valley area, extending from Midmar Dam to Albert Falls. This would include some of the area’s nature reserves, conservancies and stewardship sites and would raise awareness for the need to protect these delicate ecosystems whilst ensuring that human activities continue in a sustainable manner. The project management team attended the 8th South African National Man and Biosphere (MAB) summit held in the spectacular Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve in September this year, where the idea was introduced to other designated biosphere reserves and national government agencies and met with general approval. This summit provided the team with guidance and support from the other biosphere reserves, which will help ensure There has been an acceleration in the rate at which wild elephant populations are decreasing across Africa, driven by continued illegal ivory poaching and trade. Studies show that four elephants are killed per hour in Africa for ivory. Central Africa and East Africa are experiencing extreme levels of poaching, with Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya being current poaching hot-spots that have seen significant decreases in their local populations. West Africa has already lost nearly all its elephants, now having only 1.6% of the continents’ population. Due to poaching pressure further north, Southern Africa is now home to close to 55% of Africa’s elephants compared to 20 years ago where the figure was only 21%. However, the threat of illegal killings is already being felt in Southern Africa. Elephant tusks are sold on lucrative illegal markets, the predominant consumers being Vietnam, China, the Philippines and the USA. There is even evidence of South Africa being a conduit for ivory exports to Malaysia. It is a sad truth that often poor locals are recruited to do the dirty work to supply ivory to transnational syndicates. In some cases, especially in Central and West Africa, militia/terrorist groups are also involved as they use the profits from ivory to fund their wars, which lead to local and regional instability. WESSA has been involved in elephant conservation issues for possiblymost of its almost 90-year existence. Elephants and their conservation were central to WESSA’s successful campaigning for the establishment of the Kruger National Park in 1926, and the Addo Elephant National Park in 1931 (in addition to campaigning for the expansion of the park in 2002). Much of WESSA’s current elephant work is done in collaboration with Elephants Alive which works in association with Save the Elephants. Elephant’s Alive has focused on acquiring over a decade’s worth of real- time, accurate data in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier region, which has been collected by good quality satellite tracking collars in order to investigate the possible drivers of elephant movements, which could include nutritional, social or safety benefits. Blood samples have been taken from all the elephants for DNA analyses and tissue samples from possible virus infected sites have also been taken. These will help further virus research which is critical, especially where populations are contracting. WESSA has been involved in this project for 6 years and is committed to expanding its role in Southern Africa. •••Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park elephant monitoring project that the project is a success. •••WESSA Elephant Initiative

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) is a medium-sized (96 000 hectare) reserve with a growing elephant population, which is fast approaching the reserve’s ecological carrying capacity of around 1 000 elephants. Park management have been implementing a contraception programme (where adult cows are darted from a helicopter with a contraceptive) as part of an elephant management plan in order to control numbers. If this method proves effective it will provide an attractive alternative to culling or translocation. A key aim of the HiP Elephant Management Plan, drawn up by park ecologist Dr Dave Druce and others, is to “maintain the elephant population in a state that does not jeopardise the conservation of biodiversity elements, priority biological assets or the maintenance of ecological processes within the park.” In support of the contraception programme, accurate on- the-ground tracking and data collection is essential to inform elephant conservation and broader management strategies in HiP. Although 18 of the park’s adult cow elephants are fitted with tracking collars, it has been more than two years since the last field monitor was employed and data was collected. WESSA has appointed project officer Timothy Kuiper to work as an elephant research monitor in HiP to redress the data gap and ensure close observation of the contraceptive programme. This builds on WESSA’s 2014 funding support for a full aerial count of the HiP elephant and rhino populations. Tim is working under Dr Druce where his monitoring activities include building up the individual elephant photograph database and field ID kits; collecting data on herd demographics and family structure; monitoring elephant movements from GPS collar data; and assisting on the ground with contraception operations. The project is also collaborating with Dr Michelle Henley from Elephants Alive, a long term WESSA partner and member of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, to draw on her expertise as well as to ensure that there is shared learning with her work on elephant populations in the Lowveld. •••Elephants Alive Elephants Alive conducts research and tracks individual elephants in the Greater Limpopo region, acquiring real- time, accurate data collected from high quality satellite tracking collars (GPS-satellite and GPS/GMS collars) in order to study their population dynamics, their movements and habitat use. In total 58 elephants have been collared during 91 collaring operations in the western, eastern and northern regions of the Kruger National Park. Within the Associated Private Nature Reserve (APNR) 36 elephants have been fitted with collars since 1998, enabling the collection of distribution data from 8 breeding herds and 28 bulls within these private reserves. In the neighbouring Kruger National Park, 14 bulls and 6 breeding herds have been collared since 2006. In 2012 WESSA raised additional funds for the collaring of another large bull in the central section of the Kruger National Park. There are very few large tusked bulls left in Africa today as they are the first to be targeted by unregulated trophy hunting and illegal poaching. By understanding the abundance, movements and social importance of the remaining large tusked bulls to both human and elephant society, WESSA strives to use these flagship individuals as educational tools to address broader conservation concerns.

32 | 90 years of people caring for the earth

33 | 90 years of people caring for the earth