Lewis had gourmet taste: Whenever the dry season browned grass in his Kenyan sanctuary, he’d abandon the other elephants and race 25 miles to the mountains to raid farmers’ corn fields under cover of night.
A foot-long hair plucked from his tail, and GPS technology, tell the tale. It’s a new way to track elephants’ dietary needs and roaming habits that scientists hope ultimately could help the endangered species survive, information key to minimising conflicts between pachyderms and people.
Indeed, Lewis’ roaming cost him his life. Shortly after the research ended, he was found shot to death, presumably by a farmer tired of the crop-raiding. “Part of the problem with the elephant is, we need to know how much space they really need,” explained geochemist Thure Cerling of the University of Utah, who led the research reported Monday in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Why do they need a particular space? Could we manage the parks to make them work better for them?” Shrinking living space, as more people move into lands they once freely foraged, and poaching for ivory threaten elephant populations worldwide. But populations vary widely by country.
“Why do they need a particular space? Could we manage the parks to make them work better for them?” Shrinking living space, as more people move into lands they once freely foraged, and poaching for ivory threaten elephant populations worldwide. But populations vary widely by country.
South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, for example, have booming herds. In contrast, Kenya and certain other African countries are struggling to increase decimated elephant populations.