Ranging of older male elephants introduced to an existing small population without older males: Pilanesberg National Park

Abstract

The African elephant Loxodonta africana is one of the key components of African savanna. Not only do they play a crucial role in the ecosystem (Dublin et al. 1990; Van de Vijver et al. 1999), but they also provide one of the integral parts of sustainable conservation through ecotourism (e.g. Brown 1993) and consumptive utilisation (Taylor 1993). The ever-expanding transformation of savanna land-use through human settlement is resulting in the isolation of elephants into small populations. Furthermore, in South Africa, the reclamation of ranch land as game areas has resulted in the reintroduction of elephant to a large number of small, isolated, fenced reserves.