Historical range and movements of the Elephants in Babile Elephant Sanctuary, Ethiopia

Abstract

AbstractA study on historical range and movement patterns of the African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana africana) in Ethiopia was made from December 2004 to November 2008. Babile Elephant Sanctuary is one of the strongholds of elephants in the country, where it now supports approximately 27% of the elephant population in Ethiopia. Elephant movement routes and ranges were identified based on interviews of local people and by tracking the animals in the field. Elephants of the Sanctuary were categorized into two distinctive groups or clans based on their movement patterns and their associations to each other. Three major valleys, namely Gobele, Erer and Dakata, were crossed by elephants. Elephants in the population had an estimated annual range of 3014 km2. Of this, 85.7% (2583 km2) was inside the Sanctuary and 14.3% (430 km2) outside but adjacent to the Sanctuary. Elephant use outside of the Sanctuary included three different areas: Upper Erer Valley (8 km2), Upper Gobele Valley (48 km2) and west of Gobele Valley (374 km2). The extent of range varied seasonally. During the wet season, elephant range was restricted to Erer Valley and its tributaries (1266 km2 and a density of approximately 0.25 animal km−2), or 42% smaller than the dry season range (1417 km2, 0.23 elephant km−2). Range use was smallest (332 km2) in October to November and from April to May. During the dry season, elephants were found in two distinctive groups, one using Gobele Valley and the other Erer Valley.