Cape Town – SANParks on Thursday announced that the results of a targeted survey support the introduction of more elephants to the Garden Route.
SANParks said since confirmation of the presence of a wild female elephant remaining in the Knysna forest and fynbos under its management, evidence-based decision-making required it to embark on two types of assessments – sociological and ecological.
A targeted survey was conducted as part of the sociological assessments.
The survey response rate reached 74% of the 500 contacts made.
SANParks said the assessments will guide future management on the existence of elephants in the area.
“Results of the study support the introduction of more elephants to the Garden Route elephant range whilst many recognised that the complexity of the situation required expert inputs,” SANParks said.
“Those respondents favouring the re-introduction of elephants in the Knysna forest cited reasons ranging from ecological, cultural, and historical values and also cautioned against commercial interest.
“Most respondents advised that there must be a cautious management approach that is informed by inputs from elephant specialists, followed by landowners and conservation authorities.”
SANParks said the ecological studies examined the elephant’s physiological condition, behaviour in response to human activities, identification of potential human-wildlife conflict areas as well as understanding the reason behind the demise of the elephant population in the area.
“These assessments supported the evidence of only one female elephant in the forest area and confirmed the extent of her feeding range,” said SANParks.
“Different stress hormone levels found in the female elephant’s dung indicated that her hormone system is functioning well.
“In areas with low human presence, her stress hormone levels were low.
“Camera trap footage showed her to be relaxed while in high human-use areas or events but where she was being followed by humans, the stress hormones in her dung were high.
“This aligned with her movement and behavioural patterns that showed avoidance of areas with a higher likelihood of human presence and contact.”
SANParks said both the social and ecological studies support management options that are low-risk, cautious, and of minimal-disturbance as well as an acknowledgement that any management option should be informed by experts.
