Browsing by Author "Hartmann, Wesley Laurence"

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    Assessing translocation effects on an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) source population: demographics, landscape use and response to drones in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi.
    (2020-03) Hartmann, Wesley Laurence; Leslie, Alison J.; Fishlock, Vicki; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Translocations are increasingly common as a wildlife management strategy to reintroduce species that have undergone a local extirpation or to reinforce populations that have become isolated. Translocation effects have been well documented on the moved animals, however, much less is known about the effects these large-scale anthropogenic events have on source populations. The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is a keystone species which plays a pivotal role in the ecosystems it inhabits. With their wide-ranging impacts, understanding how elephants utilize the space available to them, or how anthropogenic events such as translocations, could influence these patterns, is vital for the effective management of elephant populations. An additional human-associated disturbance on wildlife populations, although on a much smaller scale, is the use of technology for observational purposes. Generally, these technologies have enabled an unobtrusive means by which to detect and observe wildlife (i.e. remote-sensing camera traps), but increasingly the wildlife sciences are using unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones, which are not unobtrusive. A great number of review papers have summarized and emphasized the drone’s capabilities in the wildlife sciences, but few have investigated the effect drones have on animals themselves. This study reviews all published translocation events that occurred on the African continent between the years 2000 and 2019 in an attempt to determine the factors that influence the success of translocations in an African context, and investigates how a source elephant population responded demographically and spatially to a large translocation event in Majete Wildlife Reserve where (n=154) 42% of elephants were removed and 70% of adult females. The study also investigated how this population responded behaviourally, post translocation, to the approach and presence of a drone. The demographic status of the Majete elephants was assessed via a combination of aerial survey data and individual identification techniques. Since the translocation, the population has increased from an estimated 200 individuals to 232 over a two-year period. A sex ratio of 5:2 male to female was found for adult elephants (older than 10 years) and a population growth rate of 7% per annum was estimated. The current growth rate is likely due to conception prior to the translocation event and is expected to decrease due to the extreme adult male bias in the current population. The removal of herds, primarily from one region within the reserve, significantly influenced the diversity of use of artificial water points by elephant herds. Herds historically only found in peripheral regions of the reserve were sighted more frequently in the areas other elephant herds had been removed from. While the population tolerated drone use reasonably well, increasing approach speeds and an approach angle of 90° (as opposed to 45°), were found to have significant negative effects on the likelihood of a successful drone approach towards elephants, regardless of sex and herd/group size. No flight or environmental variables were found to significantly influence the success of a sustained drone flight, however the outcome of the preceding approach was found to significantly influence success (GLZ, Estimate = 2.39497, p < 0.0001) i.e. a successful approach was more likely to result in a successful presence flight.