Elephant Voices

Category: 1. General News, 2. Field News Kenya | Date: Feb 29 2008 | By: admin

Around the world people watched yesterday as Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga finally reached an agreement. Kenyans are celebrating - and those of us who love Kenya hope that a foundation for a new and constructive era has been put in place. While the price has been high, we have been reminded about the value of democracy, fair play and long term stability.

We urge Kenya’s leaders to maintain good spirit during the hard work and reconciliation efforts that lie ahead - the current enthusiasm and the desire of the Kenyan people for peace should be of inspiration. Poverty and desperation do not make a viable environment for engendering harmony between people and animals. Agreement between the political camps means that we can all get back to working for a more prosperous future for all.

And what about wildlife conservation in general? In a comment Ann asks what the accurate situation is. In truth it is highly variable, species to species, country to country, and place to place. From our perspective the future is dependent on how people deal with the fact that resources are in limited supply and are dwindling. Are we individually and collectively willing to put enough aside for other creatures, like elephants, gorillas, and chimpanzees as well as the myriad of less charismatic species that share our planet? It is as simple and as difficult as that.

Despite the recent spearings, Amboseli is a success story. The work of Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) over 35 years has contributed substantially to the conservation of the ecosystem’s elephants, which today number around 1,500 individuals. The challenges are many for those in Kenya Wildlife Service, the local community and AERP who work tirelessly to achieve this success. While poaching for ivory is not a problem, confrontations between people and elephants can be. It is more than fair that local people feel that a share of the money generated by wildlife tourism helps to improve their lives - which is one reason why AERP and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants has initiated numerous community projects.

For the lives of Amboseli’s elephants and the many other species, including people, who inhabit the ecosystem, the conservation struggle is certainly worth the effort. The benefits don’t stop there, however, for millions of people from around the world have visited Amboseli and have benefited from the joy of seeing these magnificent animals - and millions more have watched and learned from Amboseli’s elephants on TV documentaries.

Studying elephants and being in their presence is a continuous reminder of why elephants deserve our attention and support. Experiencing their affection, compassion and loyality for one another and witnessing their extraordinary teamwork is a humbling lesson in the meaning of humanity - or perhaps a better term would be “elephanity”.

‘It is not possible for a free man to catch a glimpse of the great elephant herds roaming the vast spaces of Africa without taking an oath to do whatever is necessary to preserve for ever this living splendour.’
Romain Gary, Roots of Heaven, 1958

Best wishes, Petter and Joyce

Tags: 1022, 1025, 1027, 1030, 122, 128, 299, 6

7 responses so far

Category: 2. Field News Kenya, Elephant Photos | Date: Feb 28 2008 | By: admin

Our post about the death of Tulip led friend, supporter and wildlife (especially elephants) sculptor, Doug Aja, to send us an e-mail with a few photos. Doug has visited our home in Kenya and Amboseli many times, and he met Tulip during visits in 1998 and in 2004, just after she was speared. The first two photographs were taken in 1998 when Doug was out watching elephants with Joyce. Tulip was over 100 meters away when Joyce disgarded a fingernail-sized piece of overripe banana out the window. Tulip lifted her head, turned and sniffed. “Yummy, I know that smell from the good old days raiding tents with my mum,” she must have thought. She did a swift 3-point turn and made her way rapidly toward us.

You can see the concern on Joyce’s face in the mirror of the car as she realizes her mistake! After that experience Joyce learned never to underestimate the ability of an elephant to detect a scent of interest.Tulip came right up, stretched her trunk to full length, snatched the smush of banana and popped it into her mouth.

Doug writes:
“I’m really saddened to hear about Tulip. The TAs have been my favorite family and she had become my favorite elephant. Probably because they have had such a struggle over the past decades. I tend to pull for the underdog. Along with the EBs and any large bull, they are always the elephants I most want to see while in Amboseli. One of my fondest memories was the late afternoon, while out with you ten years ago, spent with them. There had been good rains and the park was green with plenty of food. It seemed like such a relaxed and peaceful time. Attached are some photos of her.”

People like Doug and the many other people reading our blog give us the inspiration to continue our work, despite the discouragement we sometimes feel living in a world where elephants and other species struggle for survival against such odds.

The photos are all taken by Doug. The two first ones in 1998, the close-up of her face and trunk is taken after she was speared in January 2004.

9 responses so far

Category: 1. General News, 4. Welfare News, Elephants in the wild | Date: Feb 26 2008 | By: admin

Many of you have seen or heard that the South African Government has taken some major decisions regarding the future management of the country’s elephants. These are detailed in a document entitled the Norms and Standards for Elephant Management in South Africa. The good news is that from 1st May 2008 the capture of wild elephants for commercial exhibition purposes, such as elephant back safari industries or circuses, will be prohibited.

In his speech on TV the Environment Minister unequivocally stated that they were “putting the lid” on the elephant back safari industry and that although no existing operation would be shut down, all operators would have to abide by standards for the care of elephants. The Minister has included a provision for an appendix to be developed in 12 months for “Minimum Standards” for the existing 112 or so captive elephants. Furthermore, the Norms and Standards will also prohibit the import and export of elephants destined for captivity, and will prevent artificial breeding of elephants in captivity.

Joyce and ElephantVoices have been involved in the discussions surrounding culling and capture/training of elephants in South Africa over many years. In 2006 Joyce and Petter were among signatories on a statement on culling by the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. Joyce has also been closely involved in the debate surrounding the capture and training of wild calves - first in the Tuli case, for which Joyce appeared in court in 1998 on behalf of the elephants, then in the Selati case in 2006. Most recently, Joyce was invited as an expert to attend a workshop in November 2007 held by the Environment Ministry to discuss the development of the Norms and Standards. She followed up with an open letter to the Minister.

The Ministry of Environment has agreed to many of the recommendations made. That they have prohibited the capture of wild elephants for the captive market, have prohibited the import and export of wild elephants destined for captivity, and have prohibited the artificial breeding of elephants in captivity is certainly a positive step for elephants. Furthermore, the Ministry has said that culling will be a management tool of last resort. Although the media is focused on the reopening of culling, we believe that South Africa’s approach to elephants has come a very long way from the early 1990s. The open process of discussion and the genuine change in outlook and opinions is a positive development, despite the fact that some conclusions of the document go against our wishes.

The bottom line, in our view, is that until we, human beings, accept to draw real limits on our own population expansion and consequent resource requirements (and emissions), we will be forced into unethical practices. The culling of elephants is only one of many.

Are we ever going to accept any limits on our behavior and use of resources?

Rumblings, Petter and Joyce

Tags: africa, behavior, behaviour, culling, elephants, elephantvoices, kenya, Musth, South Africa

3 responses so far

Category: 1. General News, 2. Field News Kenya, Elephant Photos | Date: Feb 25 2008 | By: admin

On 30 January we posted a message entitled “Troubled times for people and wildlife” in which we worried about the cost to wildlife from the fallout of political unrest in Kenya. Well, trouble may already be brewing for the elephants of Amboseli. The number of elephants speared in the last month has soared. It is hard to say what the specific causes are, but it is tempting to speculate that the increase is related to the general climate of political unrest and lawlessness.

Over the years increases in spearing have been related to dry conditions and it has been extremely dry in Amboseli. During droughts elephants and people compete for the same resources – food in the vicinity of water and shade during the heat of the day – and therefore come into closer contact, sometimes with negative consequences. The long rains last March and April failed as did the short rains in November and December, and so there is reason to blame the dry conditions, but rarely have we seen such a spate of spearing. Soila sent a message yesterday saying that spearing in the last month alone has resulted in the death or injury of 11 elephants: affecting 3 adult females, five calves and three adult males. In addition, two more adult males were speared in December.

One of my very favourite elephants, Tulip, is among the elephants killed and her youngest calf has died as a consequence of her death, and another of her calves is injured. This family has already experienced so much suffering as a result of human intervention Tuskless, Tulips’ mother and previous matriarch of the TA’s, was killed in 1997. Tulip, herself, was speared in her trunk in January 2004; treatment by KWS veterinarians saved her life. With all of the suffering one would have expected Tulip to be aggressive. Instead she was extraordinarily gentle. She often came to camp and wandered in between the tents. We will all miss her tremendously.

Captions, from top:

• Petter works in camp while Tulip and calf feed in the swamp beyond.
• Tulip and her calf in camp.
• An always peaceful Tulip feeding between our tent and research vehicle.
• Tulip bleeds profusely from a new spear wound in her trunk in January 2004.
• Tulip is treated by Kenya Wildlife Service Veterinarians for the spear wound.
• Tulip (far left), Tonie and their calves respond to a playback of hyenas squabbling over a kill.

Tags: 1031, 1035, 6

10 responses so far

Category: 2. Field News Kenya, Elephant Photos, Elephant Sounds | Date: Feb 15 2008 | By: admin

The comment we received from Anna in response to Meeting Mr. Nick prompts me to write this post. She mentions a male named Edo, who originally came from Amboseli’s EB family, and is now living in Tsavo National Park. Back in September 1989 Emily, one of the adult female members of the EB family, died after feeding on garbage at Amboseli Lodge.

After days of searching we found Emily’s carcass lying by Amboseli Lodge rubbish heap.

Amboseli National Park Warden discusses a clean up with the managers of Amboseli Lodge.

The incident provoked an outcry, and we published a story in the Daily Nation exposing all of the items we found in her stomach (though this prompted a clean up by the lodge then, Amboseli Lodge and its surrounds are still a disgrace 18 years later). Emily died leaving her adult daughter, Eudora, and a six-month-old son. Her infant was too young to survive without his mother’s milk and we decided to ask the The Sheldrick Orphanage to take him in.

At the time of Emily’s death I was working with a Japanese film crew (remember elephants and the ivory trade were a big issue for the Japanese) and the capture of her male calf became an integral part of the story. The crew gave him a Japanese name, Edo, which is the term for the ancient city of Tokyo. Capturing Edo was no simple task and I made the mistaken judgment that a six month old elephant could fit into the back of an Izuzu Trooper. Well, when he tried to escape over the front seats he popped out one of the back windows, dented the roof of the car and pushed me onto the gear shift and I had pain sitting for the next 18 months!

When I worked in Tsavo in 1998 I had a chance to see and even record him. He was a big boy then and not permitted to stay with Malaika and the younger calves at night. He obviously missed their companionship though, because as he walked off for his night alone, he repeatedly called out to them with “Let’s go”rumbles, some of which were answered by Malaika, Ewaso and the others.

It is lovely to see his photo on the link that Anna sent because he looks so like his mother, Emily, and sister, Eudora! Note that his tusks are what we call “asymmetrical left higher” - and so were his mother’s and his sister, Eudora.

Put on your headphones to hear (low frequency sounds, difficult to hear through lousy computer speakers…)
- Edo calling “Let’s go” to his companions:Put on your headphones to hear Edo calling “Let’s go” to his companions.
- a distant Edo calling (barely audible) and Malaika (louder) answering:Edo calling, Malaika answering

Spectrograms that show time/frequency of the calls mentioned above. (Click to see larger)

Eudora strolls by; note her asymmetrical tusks with the left tusk higher.

Edo (photo from the Sheldrick Trust website) looks like his mother and older sister; note his higher left tusk.

5 responses so far

Category: 2. Field News Kenya, Elephant Photos | Date: Feb 11 2008 | By: admin

Mr. Nick, or M86 (Male 86), was so-named for the enormous number of nicks and tears in his ears. He has what we call ”ragged” ears. In fact, his ears are just about as ragged as they get. I named Mr Nick back in 1976, when he and I were both 20 years old - young, for both of us. I was fully grown, still in college, and just starting to study musth in male elephants. He had left his family a few years earlier and though bigger than all of the adult females, he was a pipsqueak compared to the oldest males. We have grown older together, though Mr. Nick, at age 52, could still be said to be in his reproductive prime, while I cannot.

Amboseli is one of the few places where you can still see old males and Mr. Nick has been fortunate to live as long as he has. Male elephants reach their reproductive prime between 45 and 50 years old, but few males live long enough to reproduce, let along to reach their prime. Life expectancy for male elephants in Amboseli is only 24 years. If you discount death inflicted by people, life expectancy increases to 39 years. You may be surprised to learn that in safe Amboseli people have such an influence on the survival of elephants.

Elsewhere the impact on elephant mortality is even greater, especially in areas where human-elephant conflict is intense, where there is poaching for ivory, or where trophy hunting is permitted. The tusks of a 50-year old male are seven times as heavy as those of a female of the same age, so sport hunters and poachers, alike, target older males. Trophy hunters used to argue that older males were”reproductively senile,” and, therefore, expendable, but my early work on musth and male mating success debunked that argument. And in a recent genetic paternity study we showed that fully 80% of calves are fathered by older musth males.

Long-term scientific work, like that carried out in Amboseli, is important because it provides essential arguments for conserving and properly managing elephants. Older males are vital to the survival and healthy functioning of elephant populations and trophy hunting and ivory poaching can inflict harm lasting decades.

Joyce, photos Petter

Tags: africa, behavior, behaviour, bull, Bulls, elephant, elephants, elephantvoices, ivory, kenya, Musth, poaching

13 responses so far

Category: 4. Welfare News, Elephant Photos, Elephants in captivity | Date: Feb 07 2008 | By: admin

We invite you to visit the elephant elephant welfare section of ElephantVoices, which has been reorganized and improved over the last couple of weeks; new expansions will be uploaded over the course of the next few months.

Some may wonder what our elephant welfare work has to do with elephant communication or with elephant conservation, for that matter. We see this part of our work as an important application of our many years of study of elephant behavior. Decades of knowledge is useful for the advancement of science, yes, but we also want to ensure a better future for elephants, as individuals and as a species. To do that we need to educate people, to translate all the reams of data into something that the public can digest, be moved by and put into action. As acknowledged experts in the field we feel a need to speak out on their behalf.

Joyce returned from a five day trip to California on Tuesday, where she was meeting with donors and discussing a range of captive and wild elephant welfare issues. Over the next few days she will be finalising her expert witness testimony for a legal case against Ringling Brothers for the mistreatment of elephants.

Further analysis of the material collected during our playback experiments in Amboseli in December/January is also high on our to-do list.

Cheers, Petter and Joyce

Tags: africa, behavior, behaviour, bull, Bulls, elephants, elephantvoices, kenya

4 responses so far

Category: Elephant Photos | Date: Feb 04 2008 | By: admin

We are very grateful for support of our work from

- Michelle P., $ 30 monthly
- Theresa S, $ 50

We continue to hope for brighter times for Kenyans and for wildlife in Kenya!

Cheers, Petter

2 responses so far