Elephants

Elephants are so complicated. They live a long time and remember a lot. They have multi generational, socially interactive lives. Their social structure is matriarchal. They are the largest terrestrial animal and spend most of their time eating. They are herbivores that need a large ranging territory with water, grass and trees for grazing and drinking. They maintain their dispersed social interactions by communicating great distances using growls that are at very low frequency. Most of this vocalization is inaudible to humans.

Featured image is a rogue male elephant showing his stuff.

There is a mixed opinion regarding the ecological impact of elephant herds. On the small scale when elephants crash through a small village or hut the residents are not amused. They want the animals out. When the elephants tear up the trees on the sparsely vegetated savannah the plants are demolished and can’t reproduce. Conversely the elephants help to propagate the trees and other plants by eating the tree fruit and, after digestion, they drop the undigested seeds with nutrients along their paths. Hence they promote new growth. Survival of plants and animals comes down to population density and environmental pressure. The poachers are a terrible plague on the animals of these areas. The local game rangers pursue this criminal behavior in the park areas armed with high powered rifles. Outside the parks the issue is more complicated. The people in the near park areas depend upon tourism. They know that it is in their best interest to cohabitate with the animals. Progressive seasonal drought is another problem for the elephants. They may need to travel long distances from the vegetated areas to water. During this search for food and water the weak may succumb to predators such as lions or to dehydration. This is the reason that Okavango Delta is a high value breeding area for elephants.

You might notice the difference between the two reserve areas. In the Okavango the elephants can easily stand in the marshlands feeding and drinking. In the Maasai Mara the elephants live on the savanna and need to go to the rivers and drink from the shore where they are less protected.

If you wish to receive notifications of new postings, please enter your email and click on Subscribe

If you wish to comment or start a discussion leave a reply.

#Africa #elephants #Okovango #poachers #drought #Maasai Mara #