Lone female elephant in Knysna Forest under chronic stress without herd
"She's pretty much the only female elephant in the world known to exist in the wild completely by herself." - SANParks Scientist, Liz Moolman
Lester Kiewit speaks to SANParks Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist, Liz Moolman.
Moolman says SANParks is trying to decide on the best way to manage the lone female elephant living in the Knysna Forest.
The elephant who first strolled into Knysna Forest in 2019 is estimated to be in her 40s.
The lone female elephant's herd was either killed by illegal shooting or the nutrients in plants the herd was eating was not optimal to help sustain her herd, says Moolman.
Moolman also says that it's rare and a historic moment for this female elephant to be taking on life without a herd.
"Elephants move around in a herd, female elephants don't move around by themselves. She's pretty much the only female elephant in the world known to exist in the wild completely by herself."
Liz Moolman, Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist, SANParks
Since the lone elephant wondered into the forest, camera trap studies have been conducted every two to three weeks, showing that certain activities triggered stress in the elephant.
"She had temporal streaming on the side of her head which is normal for elephants but she had it constantly, so we're quite worried that maybe she's under constant or chronic stress because she's alone. A stress hormone study from her dung also found stress hormones in areas where there were lots of people and then it decreases when less people were around."
Liz Moolman, Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist, SANParks
How are SANParks experts helping to de-stress this elephant?
Moolman says they have been working on a plant to re-introduce more elephants to the area using evidence-based decision-making guided by sociological and ecological assessments.
This might take a while because there are lots of legal aspects, ecological research and stakeholders who will be directly impacted by this choice to consider.
"We are at the phase where we could narrow down the introduction options where we will risk analysis with internal and external experts."
Liz Moolman, Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist, SANParks
The Knysna elephant hasn't been named yet but she goes by various names and has "attachments" to those who visit her regularly.
Her temporary names go by one distinct quality: the interesting pattern on her feet, says Moolman.
"She goes by many names like ou poot, strange foot, matriarch - to me, she's the Knysna elephant but different people have different attachments to her and what they name her."
Liz Moolman, Scientist and Wildlife Ecologist, SANParks