From the Sri Lankan Jungle to the South African Savanna: Elephants, Research, and the Drought
It feels unreal to think that my time working for the Elephants and Bees Project in Sri Lanka (see: https://robinmichaelcook5.wixsite.com/website/single-post/2017/10/20/Elephants-Bees-and-a-Taste-of-Sri-Lanka) finished almost 4 months ago! And never did I think I’d have the chance to move from one amazing research organisation to another - Elephants Alive (next to South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park). It was with Elephants Alive that I completed both my Honours and Masters degrees through Wits University between 2014 and 2017, and what a privilege it is to be back here!
Having returned to Elephants Alive, it is great to see how much has changed and yet remained the same with the organisation. Their research fields continue to expand along elephant-related ecological issues, with my own research focussed on various large tree and human-elephant conflict projects. And yes, the bees still form a part of what I do but they now have fancy new homes curtesy of the EMS Foundation and BeePak. Seeing the project site every week reminds me of how I’d lie in bed at the beginning of my Master’s degree wondering how we’d ever pull off this project and actually get to the stage where we’d have beehives in trees. Twenty-five months later, and I think we can all be very proud with how we’ve kept the project alive and the highly positive results we’ve recorded regarding the bees protecting the marula trees from elephant impact.
Seeing the old faces and meeting the new faces at Elephants Alive has also been a lot of fun. It is always a pleasure to work with such a dynamic team who combine their skills for the good of elephant research and conservation, and all under the leadership of Dr Michelle Henley (my external supervisor for my two post-grad degrees). Whether the team is tracking elephants, collecting dung, feeding bees, measuring impact on trees, or sitting behind a desk in the office, everyone is willing to help where needed to ensure that the research progress moves forward for the benefit of elephant conservation. And if it means waking up super early for an elephant collaring operation or spending your afternoon washing a field vehicle (or waiting for it to be fixed!), then so be it.
One aspect that has not changed though is the ongoing drought. The drought is particularly prevalent where I conduct a large portion of my research in Jejane Private Nature Reserve, and I can only try to imagine what the winter months here will look like later this year. But whilst we will continue to grumble about the lack of food for our bee project, or look with pity on animals displaying a poor body condition, it is also important to realise the ecological importance of the drought through its filtering effect on the weaker individuals of wildlife populations. Natural selection before your very eyes. However, this is not made easy in fenced-off reserves where natural migrations are halted and animals such as elephants push their luck with break-out attempts. The grass may be greener on the other side - but just how safe is it? Taking a step back and looking at the system on a macro-scale though, the drought certainly allows for fascinating research into how the ecological system changes when forage quantities decrease and seasonal waterholes dry up sooner than expected. Where the animals move and the impact (or lack of) that they have on the system is important for both ecological heterogeneity and management decisions. This is the beauty of the adaptive management policy - we learn as we go. Ecosystems are dynamic and continuously fluctuating, hence so should be the case with our management decisions.
We now move into February. Will there be any rain? What challenges will the elephants throw our way this month? But also, what stories will they tell us to help us learn more about them? The best part of this job is that there is no such thing as a normal working day - and that’s what makes it so exciting!
Until next time, from the Greater Kruger National Park
system, cheers!