What factors determine how far elephants walk? Our recent trip to Kenya (see blog, Zoo Director becomes a Samburu) brought us to a region about twice the size of Yosemite National Park, an area overseen by the Northern Rangelands Trust. It encompasses elevated mountain ranges with thick forests, grassy plains, dry and sandy riverbeds, scrub brush, and a host of other types of environments. Somehow, elephants manage to make these areas their homes, despite the differences in habitat type. When in the dry riverbeds, the elephants will actually dig for water, which is sometimes hard to find. More surprising, the elephants are quite adept at trekking up a steep mountainside in order to go to a preferred food resource. Although elephants are protected in national parks, their status is much less clear in nongovernmental areas.

One factor that seems to determine elephant ranging activity is the level of security in an area. Rather than continuing with the conservation colonialism that has characterized a number of past efforts in wildlife conservation, we have embarked upon a program of community-based conservation that includes a combination of improving the quality of life for the local people with the preservation of the natural biodiversity in the area. To achieve this goal, we have provided funds for a number of scouts and rangers to patrol the area. The scouts work in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service to protect the animals, but they are also being trained in the collection of scientific data necessary to save species. (San Diego Zoo Director Richard Farrar is shown meeting the scouts.)

The future of elephants in Africa will not only depend upon protecting them in national parks; it will also depend upon the motivation and incentive of the local population living outside of parks. The San Diego Zoo is fortunate in having dedicated partners in Kenya working to ensure that the African elephants will roam throughout northern Kenya.

Fred Bercovitch is head of the Behavioral Biology Division, CRES
Jeff Andrews is animal care manager of elephants, Wild Animal Park

Watch the Wild Animal Park's elephants daily on Elephant Cam.

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