By 2001, elephants had been translocated (mainly from Kruger National Park) to 58 small,
fenced reserves in South Africa. All but two introductions took place since 1989. We
document important aspects of the population dynamics of elephants in these reserves
using data collected in a survey conducted in 2001. The mean population size was 45
elephants, with an average density of 0.25 elephants/km2. Populations have a female bias
with 0.79 males to females. Populations have 19% adult males, and 31% adult females. On
average, almost 50% of the population comprises adult and subadult females, indicating an
immanent potential for large population growth. Births were not significantly different froma
1:1 sex ratio. When two extreme populations were removed, mean mortality rate was 0.4%
per annum.Population growth rates averaged 8.3%,but five reserves had growth rates above
13%, and the highest annual growth rate was 16.5% per annum. Twenty-seven populations
already have densities above 0.2 elephants/km2, and eight reserves have densities above 0.4
elephants/km2. Assuming a 12% per annum growth (feasible given the data presented), over
half the reserves will have densities above 0.33 elephants/km2 within five years. These
results indicate that the translocation of elephants has been successful, with most populations
reproducing at a rate far exceeding expectations. This has serious implications for
owners and managers, as some form of population control (contraception, removals, culling
etc.) needs to be urgently planned for implementation as soon as possible in most, and
probably all small reserves.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001004 |
| Date | 22 February 2005 |
| Creators | Slotow, R, Garai, ME, Reilly, BK, Crowe, TM |
| Publisher | South African Journal for Wildlife Research |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | South African Journal for Wildlife Research |
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