Tsavo National Park Research Articles

Influence of Project Resource Planning on Performance of Elephant Conservation at TSAVO National Park, Kenya

Influence of Project Resource Planning on Performance of Elephant Conservation at TSAVO National Park, Kenya

REMEDYING THE POLLUTION OF ATHI RIVER IN KENYA

The Athi River, which is 390 km before entering the Indian Ocean, is the second-longest river in Kenya. As it flows through the grasslands and valleys of Kenya, the river forms the majestic Fourteen Falls, meanders through Nairobi, and eventually passes through Tsavo National Park, the largest in Kenya. Here, hippopotamus, crocodiles, and pythons are attracted to the river’s waters and the life it carries. Millions of Kenyans rely on the Athi River for drinking water and irrigation. However, the Athi River also receives large amounts of pollution from Nairobi–an area with a population of over four million people. Along with population growth and rapid urbanization, poor solid waste management is emerging as a key risk for health in Kenya. The river is increasingly choking with uncollected garbage; human waste from informal settlements; industrial waste in the form of gaseous emissions, liquid affluence, and solids waste; agrochemicals, and other wastes especially petrochemicals and metals from microenterprises – the hot sun and overflowing sewers. This situation has occasioned the spread of waterborne diseases, loss of sustainable livelihoods, loss of biodiversity, reduced availability and access to safe potable water, and various toxic substances and heavy metal poisoning, affecting human productivity. The paper is not empirically grounded and its content is a result of desktop research and content analysis of literature, images, and news related to pollution. The paper hopes to provoke further deliberations and empirical research on the river.

Effectiveness of wildlife underpasses and culverts in connecting elephant habitats: a case study of new railway through Kenya’s Tsavo National Parks

AbstractTransportation networks can be a major impediment to wildlife movements. We assessed the use of wildlife underpasses and culverts along a newly constructed railway in Kenya's Tsavo National Parks by African elephants (L. africana). We collared ten elephants with GPS satellite transmitters within 20 km of the railway in March 2016 and analysed their movement data to March 2019. Eight elephants used the underpasses although one did not cross the adjacent highway. The remaining two neither used the underpasses nor crossed the highway despite ranging in the vicinity. Their median speed significantly increased to 0.65 km/hr from 0.45 km/hr before crossing the railway, then slowed to 0.32 km/hr after crossing. Females in family groups moved faster than the lone bulls when using the underpasses. Seventy‐eight per cent of all crossings made were at night. The fast speeds and the nocturnal patterns are behavioural responses of elephants in risky landscapes or under stress. Disturbance from vehicles traffic on the adjacent highway and from newly developed human settlements may have limited use of underpasses. Wildlife crossing structures, signage and speed bumps along the highway; relocation of the illegal human settlements; and inter‐agency coordination are requisites for enhancing Tsavos' elephant habitat connectivity.

Assessment of human–elephant conflicts in multifunctional landscapes of Taita Taveta County, Kenya

People and wildlife have co-occurred, sharing resources for thousands of years, however, over the last four decades records of human–wildlife conflict have increasingly emerged. Human–elephant conflict is a form of such conflict, resulting from negative interactions between people and elephants. Human–elephant conflict affects local community livelihood and the success of elephant conservation. Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks, which cover about 60% of the Taita Taveta County land area, host the single largest elephant population in Kenya. We analysed human–elephant conflict incident data over 15 years (2004–2018) in Taita Taveta County, which forms part of the Tsavo ecosystem in south-eastern Kenya. We identified eight forms of human–elephant conflict comprising elephant threat, crop raiding, property damage, injury to people, human death, elephant death, elephant injury, and livestock death. Three forms of conflict accounted for 97% of the reported incidents, namely elephant threat to humans, constituting the highest number of incidents (62.46%), followed by crop raiding (32.46%) and property damage (2.33%). Conflicts occurred throughout the year, with June to July having the highest number of incidents. Rainfall, distance from the Tsavo national parks, and human population density were used as covariates to explain HEC patterns. This study seeks to provide a detailed evaluation of the spatial–temporal patterns of human–elephant conflict in Taita Taveta County and to yield information useful for human–elephant conflict mitigation and elephant conservation.

Census and distribution of large carnivores in the Tsavo national parks, a critical east African wildlife corridor

AbstractKenya's Tsavo National Parks are a critical conservation area and the only wilderness corridor through densely populated human‐dominated landscapes stretching from the East African coast to Lake Victoria, separating extensive undeveloped grasslands south of the equator from the undeveloped semiarid bushlands to the north. At nearly 21,000 km2, Tsavo is one of four lion strongholds in East Africa and part of Africa's most important populations of all other large African carnivores. To provide baseline data on the status of large carnivores, a track survey was undertaken in 2013. Lions and both hyaena species were widely distributed across both parks, while cheetahs and wild dogs were more patchily distributed. Spotted hyaenas were the most abundant, with an estimated population of 3,903 ± 514 (95% CI), followed by lion (706 ± 201), striped hyaena (679 ± 144), leopard (452 ± 98), cheetah (154 ± 74) and wild dog (111 ± 92). Tsavo's carnivores suffer from bushmeat poaching, illegal grazing and retaliatory killing, and increasing human numbers on its periphery. Given Tsavo's importance as a stronghold for lions and an ecological corridor, increased investment in effective protection is strongly recommended. Evaluating trends will require complementary techniques in light of intensive monitoring requirements.

Comparing an automated high-definition oblique camera system to rear-seat-observers in a wildlife survey in Tsavo, Kenya: Taking multi-species aerial counts to the next level

In aerial wildlife counts, human observers often fail to detect animals. We conducted a multi-species sample-count in Tsavo National Park, Kenya, with traditional rear-seat-observers (RSOs) and an automated ‘oblique-camera-count’ (OCC) imaging system to compare estimates of 23 wildlife species derived from these two survey methods. An aerial Total Count of elephant, buffalo and giraffe, conducted a month previously, provided a further comparison. In the Tsavo Core (9560km2), which harbours 80% of Tsavo’s elephants, the OCC system acquired 81 000 images for interpretation, of which 67 000 were obtained in parallel with RSO-counting along 3004km of flight line. The Tsavo outer blocks (24 171km2) were surveyed using the OCC system without RSOs to acquire a further 84 000 images. A random sample of 11 553 images were re-interpreted to derive species-specific probabilities of detection and correction factors. Using ‘Jolly II’, non-parametric and Bayesian analyses, and applying correction factors, we demonstrate that the RSOs did not detect 14% of elephants, 60% of giraffe, 48% of zebra and 66% of the large antelopes. For comparison, the Total Count observers did not detect 27% of elephant, 33% of buffalo, 57% of giraffe and 85% of carcasses. The OCC method raises the elephant population estimate to 16 681±4047 (95% cl) from the 12 722 counted in the Total Count (Z=1.917, p=.0276). These results suggest that RSO-based methods have significantly undercounted wildlife populations. To align with improved counting methods, previous results need to be re-calibrated.

Movement Patterns of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) in a Semi-arid Savanna Suggest That They Have Information on the Location of Dispersed Water Sources

Water is a scarce resource in semi-arid savannas where over half of the African elephants (Loxodonta africana) populations occur and may therefore influence their movement pattern. A random search is expected for an animal with no information on the location of the target resource, else, a direction-oriented walk is expected. We hypothesized that elephants movement patterns show a stronger directional orientation towards water sources in the dry season compared to the wet season. We investigated the movement paths of four male and four female elephants with hourly GPS fixes in Tsavo National Park, Kenya in 2012-2013. Consistent with our predictions, the movement paths of elephants had longer step lengths, longer squared net displacements, and were directed towards water sources in the dry season as compared to the wet season. We argue that African elephants know the location of dispersed water resources, enabling them to survive with scarce resources in dry savannas. These results can be used in conservation and management of wildlife, through for instance, protection of preferred water sources.

Calcium isotopes in enamel of modern and Plio-Pleistocene East African mammals

Calcium isotope analyses show a depletion of heavy calcium isotopes in vertebrates, compared to food sources along each trophic step. Recent studies show considerable variability of the calcium isotopic composition of bone and teeth in modern mammals, leading to inconclusive interpretations regarding the utility of Ca isotopes for trophic inference in mammal-dominated terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we analyzed modern enamel samples from the Tsavo National Park (Kenya), and fossil enamel samples dated from ca. 4 Ma to 1.6 Ma from the Turkana Basin (Kenya). We found a constancy of taxa ordering between the modern and fossil datasets, suggesting that the diagenesis of calcium isotopes is minimal in fossils. In modern herbivore samples using similar digestive physiologies, browsers are enriched in 44Ca compared to grazers. Both grazer and browser herbivore tooth enamel is enriched in 44Ca relative to carnivores by about +0.30‰. Used together, carbon and calcium isotope compositions may help refine the structure of the C3 and C4 trophic chains in the fossil record. Due to their high preservation potential, combining both carbon and calcium isotope systems represent a reliable approach to the reconstruction of the structure of past ecosystems.

Preliminary indications of the effect of infrastructure development on ecosystem connectivity in Tsavo National Parks, Kenya

Preliminary indications of the effect of infrastructure development on ecosystem connectivity in Tsavo National Parks, Kenya

The Elephant Problem: Science, Bureaucracy, and Kenya’s National Parks, 1955 to 1975

Abstract:This article examines debates about how to manage elephants in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park as a jumping off point for exploring the relationships among the local, national, and global constituencies that converged in the formulation of wildlife policy in Kenya during the 1950s and 1960s. Bridging the colonial and postcolonial years, the so-called Elephant Problem in Tsavo, while leveraging different international constituencies, pitted different administrative philosophies against one another and drew out different understandings of the application of ecological sciences in national parks. The result was a paralysis of policymaking which sparked an overhaul of the wildlife departments in the 1970s.

Phenotypic and Genotypic Identification of Ticks Sampled from Wildlife Species in Selected Conservation Sites of Kenya

Hard ticks are blood feeding ectoparasites that infest humans and animals and are vectors of pathogenic microorganism that cause severe infectious diseases. Morphological identification has been the main approach of identifying ticks but the technique is considered inaccurate and difficult. Molecular techniques have recently been considered to be appropriate approaches for accurate and rapid identification and Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS 2) has been shown to differentiate genus of hard ticks. Currently, genetic identification of ticks using ITS 2 has not been carried out in Kenya. In this study, 80 tick samples were collected from Lake Nakuru and Tsavo National Parks and were identified morphologically using appropriate identification keys. DNA was extracted from the appendages using DNA extraction kit followed by partial amplification of ITS 2 gene. The PCR products were then analyzed by gel electrophoresis and positive PCR products were sequenced. Of the tick samples four genera were identified morphologically; Amblyomma, Hyalomma, Rhipicephalus and Dermacentor. Of the tick samples identified and compared with the sequences in the GenBank, six and seven samples showed 98-100% homology with A. variegatum and R. pulchellus respectively and they clustered in their respective monophyletic group in the phylogeny tree with a bootstrap of 99%. Two samples showed 92% homology with H. dromedarii and the study sequences clustered with the reference sequence with a bootstrap of 99% while six samples showed 95% homology with H. marginatum rufipes, however, only four of these samples clustered together with the reference sequence in the phylogeny with a bootstrap of 95%. One sample showed 91% homology with A. humerali and did not cluster together in the phylogeny tree. Congruency between both techniques was high with a correlation coefficient of 0.941. This is the first report of phenotypic and genotypic traits of tick species in Kenya and the findings will add value to the existing knowledge in identification of ticks.

Obituary

Obituary

DNA species surveillance: Monitoring bushmeat poaching and trading in Kenya using partial cytochrome b gene

DNA species identification has applications in such areas as forensic science, systematics, conservation genetics and agriculture. One key anthropogenic activity threatening large wildlife fauna is illegal exploitation. In Kenya, species identification of raw and processed meat products remains a constraint to effective enforcement of illegal trade in game meat (bushmeat) and products. We tested the reliability of a 321 bp mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) region as a species identification tool for application in wildlife forensics. Query sequences were generated from known specimens of 14 Eastern African wildlife species, 13 representing commonly poached ungulates, and three domesticated species. These were compared, using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) algorithm, with NCBI GenBank reference sequences for species identity. These query sequences were subsequently deposited on Genbank. They represent a contribution to a diagnostic internal East African Wildlife reference cyt b database. The test species comprised: Cape buffalo, bushbuck, Guenther’s dik-dik, common duiker, common eland, Grant’s gazelle, hartebeest, impala, lesser kudu, plains zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, common warthog, wildebeest, Maasai ostrich, cattle, goat and sheep. Additionally, cooked beef and pork samples were analyzed. The results show that, when conspecific sequences were available in the database, species discrimination was 100%. Phylogeny clustering of the species by maximum likelihood supported the species determination by BLAST. The second part of the study carried out a preliminary survey of the prevalence of illegal game meat sold in the dispersal area of Tsavo National Park, Kenya. Sixty two raw meat samples were randomly collected from small roadside retail outlets along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway (A109), a major transnational highway that transverses Tsavo National Park. The results indicate a 9.7% (n = 6) illegal game meat sale, comprising five Guenther’s dik-diks and a Beisa oryx. A 2 km radius hotspot, with 83% (n = 5) of the bushmeat sales was identified just south of Tsavo East National Park. Key words: East Africa, Kenya, bushmeat, poaching, wildlife conservation, species identification, mitochondrial cytochrome b gene.

Spatiotemporal patterns of elephant poaching in south-eastern Kenya

Context Poaching of the African elephant for ivory had been on the increase since 1997 when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) allowed a one-off legal sale of ivory by several southern Africa countries. In Kenya, reports indicate continuous year-to-year increase in elephant poaching since 2003. Aims The goals of the study were to describe the temporal and spatial patterns of elephant poaching in south-eastern Kenya between 1990 and 2009, and examine relationships between observed patterns of poaching, and human and biophysical variables. The study aimed to answer the following questions: (1) how has elephant poaching varied seasonally and annually; (2) what are the spatial patterns of elephant poaching in the Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA); and (3) what are the relationships between observed patterns of poaching and human and biophysical variables? Methods The study used elephant-poaching data and various GIS-data layers representing human and environmental variables to describe the spatial and temporal patterns of elephant poaching. The observed patterns were then related to environmental and anthropogenic variables using correlation and regression analyses. Key results Elephant poaching was clustered, with a majority of the poaching occurring in the dry season. Hotspots of poaching were identified in areas with higher densities of roads, waterholes, rivers and streams. The Tsavo East National Park and the Tsavo National Park accounted for 53.7% and 44.8% of all poached elephants, respectively. The best predictors for elephant poaching were density of elephants, condition of vegetation, proximity to ranger bases and outposts, and densities of roads and rivers. Conclusions Predictor variables used in the study explained 61.5–78% of the total variability observed in elephant poaching. The location of the hotspots suggests that human–wildlife conflicts in the area may be contributing to poaching and that factors that quantify community attitudes towards elephant conservation may provide additional explanation for observed poaching patterns. Implications The poaching hotpots identified can be a used as starting point by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to begin implementing measures that ensure local-community support for conservation, whereas on other hotspots, it will be necessary to beef-up anti-poaching activities. There is a need for Kenya to legislate new anti-poaching laws that are a much more effective deterrence to poaching than currently exist.

The natural environment as reservoir for the larger grain<i>Prostephanus truncatus</i>(Horn)(Coleoptera: Bostrichidae)in Kenya

The Larger Grain Borer (LGB), Prostephanus truncatus (Horn), is an exotic pest of stored maize and cassava which first appeared in Kenya in 1983. Studies using pheromone traps show that LGB is widespread in the natural vegetation in Tsavo National Park. Experiments to determine alternative hosts of the LGB have shown it capable of feeding and breeding in 16 tree species in the families Leguminoseae, Burseraceae and Anacardiaceae. Some of these species are of significance to agroforestry. Within a tree, breeding success of LGB is dependent upon the wood's age, and its moisture content. The possible role of alternative host plants in influencing LGB infestations in stored maize is discussed.

Conservation on community lands: the importance of equitable revenue sharing

SUMMARYAttempts to establish local support for wildlife and conservation through the sharing of revenues and empowerment of local communities to manage their wildlife have proliferated over the past two decades. Data from two neighbouring Maasai group ranches in the wildlife dispersal area of Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks (Kenya) indicated one ranch generated considerable wildlife revenues from a tourist operation and community trust while the other received no direct benefits from wildlife. The overall attitude to wildlife on the ranch with wildlife revenues was significantly more positive, but attitudes within the ranch varied significantly, depending on both costs from wildlife and perception of the distribution of wildlife revenues. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed that it was not the amount of revenue received or the scale of costs from wildlife which determined people's attitudes, but simply the presence or absence of wildlife benefits. The importance of addressing inequitable distribution of benefits is emphasized.

Tethered mobility and riparian resource exploitation among Neolithic hunters and herders in the Galana River basin, Kenyan coastal lowlands

Human activity along the Galana River inside Tsavo National Park, Kenya extends from 6000 years BP until at least 1300 years BP. This time period in East Africa predates and includes the Pastoral Neolithic – geographically and temporally linked early cattle-herding cultures comprised of autonomous communities with loose cultural connections to one another. Data from some sites located in the Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria Basin and Central Kenyan Highlands indicate that after 3000 years BP, residential mobility patterns increased and pastoralists adopted a strong dependence on maintaining and culling herds of domesticated animals. This pattern is not borne out in Tsavo, where artefact analyses indicate that people had restricted mobility and relied primarily on exploitation of an endoaquatic resource base. This study hypothesises that subdecadal periodicity in El Niño/Southern Oscillation index (ENSO) along with a general trend toward aridification of East African landscapes provided the environmental backdrop for a subsistence regime focused primarily within riparian environments of the Coastal Lowlands region.

New Perspectives on Early Regional Interaction Networks of East African Trade: A View from Tsavo National Park, Kenya

Archaeologists are interested in understanding whether cross-cultural contact catalyzed by exchange of commodities is a means for people to acquire new technology and cultural ideas. This paper reports the results and analysis of archaeological investigations in Tsavo National Park, Kenya in 2001 and 2004 that have recovered evidence of indirect contact between late pastoral neolithic (PN) herders and early iron working (EIW) communities. Analysis of stylistic motifs on ceramics used by both PN and EIW people show that socially constructed notions of aesthetics are similar, implying that a strong cultural connection between the two groups may be possible. New lexico-statistical analyses and archaeological data from Tanzania corroborate that the prehistoric East African milieu was more complex than previously believed. However, pastoralists in Tsavo show no evidence of utilizing iron technology or altering their subsistence strategies among the > 10,000 artifacts spanning 4,000+ years of prehistory recovered in the 2001 field season. Thus, long-distance and long-term contact between socially connected groups possessing different technological and subsistence foundations does not necessarily lead to a diffusion of new survival strategies. Les archeologues sont interesses a comprendre la diffusion technologique et culturelle prehistorique [Les archeologues se sont interestesa comprendre la diffusion prehistorique de la technologie et de la culture]. Le contact entre les cultures catalysees par l'echange des produits est des moyens pour que les personnes acquierent la nouvelle technologie et les idees culturelles. Cependant, le point auquel certaines idees sont acceptees ou rejetees demeure irresolu. [Quand le contact contre-culturelle s'allie avec l'exchange de produits, les deux fournissent les nouvelles idees culturelles et technologiques aux gens. Mais, le point d D'autres donnees sont necessaires pour augmenter nos comprehension de l'echange des idees entre les groupes de personnes et comment des changements de technologie. Les investigations archeologiques en parc national de Tsavo, Kenya dans 2001 ont recupere l'evidence du contact indirect entre les bouviers neolithiques pastoraux (PN) en retard et les premieres communautes du fondre de fer (EIW). L'analyse des motifs stylistiques sur la ceramique utiliser par des personnes de PN et d'EIW prouvent que les notions socialement construites de l'esthetique sont semblables, impliquant qu'un raccordement culturel fort entre les deux groupes peut etre possible. Les nouvelles analyses lexico-statistiques et les donnees archeologiques de Tanzanie corroborent que le milieu africain est prehistorique etait plus complexe que precedemment cru. Cependant, les bouviers prehistorique dans Tsavo ne montrent aucune evidence d'utiliser la technologie de fer ou de changer leurs strategies de subsistance parmi les > 10.000 objets faconnes enjambant les annees 4.000+ de la prehistoire recuperees dans la saison de 2001 champs. Ainsi, contact a longue distance et long terme entre les groupes socialement relies possedant differentes bases technologiques et de subsistance ne mene pas necessairement a une diffusion de nouvelles strategies de survival.

Testing non-equilibrium theories in savannas: 1400 years of vegetation change in Tsavo National Park, Kenya

Non-equilibrium processes in savannas are poorly understood because little data is available on how tree abundance has changed over long periods of time. Here I analyse fossil pollen and charcoal from Kanderi Swamp in Tsavo National Park, Kenya in order to investigate patterns of vegetation change over the past 1400 years. I compare the results with the predictions of cyclical, phase and transition and stochastic non-equilibrium models. Fourier analysis of the pollen data provides evidence of cyclical changes in tree abundance with a periodicity of 250–500 years, but the pollen data also suggests that the vegetation surrounding Kanderi swamp remained in a prolonged woodland phase, as predicted by phase and transition models, from approximately 770–1520 a. d. In addition, the results provided evidence of much shorter term changes in tree/grass abundance, perhaps reflecting stochastic variations in rainfall. The charcoal data suggests a link between vegetation change and fire history, possibly mediated through the effects of rainfall variation on the accumulation of combustible biomass in the herb layer. There was also evidence of extreme fires occurring twice in the past 1400 years. The results suggest that at the local scale, the vegetation near Kanderi Swamp has been mainly influenced by localised disturbance, rather than climatic shifts or the Rinderpest epidemic, and that elements of cyclical, phase and transition and stochastic models are needed in order to fully understand the observed pattern of vegetation change.

Livestock predation by lions ( Panthera leo) and other carnivores on ranches neighboring Tsavo National ParkS, Kenya

Lion depredations on livestock are largely responsible for their conflicts with humans and for the historic collapse of their geographic range. Understanding of patterns associated with such predation can be used to mitigate its effects and promote more stable coexistence of lions and humans. We analyzed attacks on livestock over a four-years period on two neighboring arid-land ranches adjoining Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. A total of 312 attacks claiming 433 head of stock were examined. Lions were responsible for 85.9% of the attacks; hyenas and cheetahs were the other predators responsible. Lions and hyenas attacked mainly cattle and did so at night, whereas cheetahs almost exclusively took smaller sheep and goats. There was no temporal autocorrelation of daily losses, suggesting that the attacks are independent events. Both number of attacks and number of stock killed showed significant seasonal differences, and their monthly totals correlated positively with precipitation. Intensified predation in the wet season differs from patterns of lion predation elsewhere but reinforces the pattern that large carnivores take more livestock when native prey are most difficult to find and kill. On average, wildlife attacks claimed 2.4% of range stock annually, and livestock represented ca. 5.8% of the diet of ranch lions. This predation represented 2.6% of the herd’s estimated economic value, and cost the ranch $8749 per annum. Each lion cost ranchers approximately $290 per year in depredations.