# African Elephant Park WCS: Protecting the Savanna

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2019/09/african-elephant-park-wcs-protecting-the-savanna/
- Published: 2019-09-15T22:06:17-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

#### 󠀁[⌊Elephant park WCS⌉⌊Elephant park WCS⌉󠀁[

## Introduction

Let’s talk a real elephant park WCS in Africa. One for the the African savannah 
elephant. It is also the largest land mammal in the world.

For a mature bull [elephant](https://greenlivingguy.com/2019/04/grand-isle-resort-spa-introduces-first-phase-of-do-no-harm-policy-eliminates-single-use-plastic/)
may stand up to 13 feet tall. I mean at the shoulder more noteworthy and weigh 14,000
pounds. The most noticeable distinction between African savannah and also forest
elephants is size.

### Savannah

For now the savannah is larger and more importantly has bigger and more curved tusks.
Asian elephants have much smaller ears than both African species and usually, only
the male Asian elephant sports tusks.

African savannah elephants have large home ranges, spanning hundreds of square miles.
As they move, they push over trees to get to their branches and roots. Thereby helping
maintain the grasslands. For they more interestingly use their tusks and trunks 
to dig for water. Thereby creating [pools](https://greenlivingguy.com/2019/02/making-energy-efficiency-standards-for-pools/)
that many other animals also need to survive. These elephants are important dispersers
of seeds through their consumption of fruit.

#### Never Forget Matriarchs

In folklore, elephants are known for not forgetting. For the African savannah elephant,
memory is a tool for surviving challenges. Those that may come intermittently over
decades. Long-term memory tends to be vested in the older females. For they are 
most definitely the matriarchs. So without which the herd could die of starvation
or dehydration.

#### 1993 Drought

During the drought of 1993 in Tanzania, elephant matriarchs that remembered a similar
drought 35 years before led their herds beyond the borders of Tarangire National
Park in search of food and water. Groups with matriarchs that were not old enough
to remember the previous drought suffered a 63 percent mortality of their calves
that year.

Unfortunately, these large females are the most attractive targets for [ivory](https://greenlivingguy.com/2014/02/wildlife-trafficking-a-growing-global-crisis/)
poachers. The animals tend to have the largest tusks. For they may be easier to 
find than the males.

![Elephant park for WCS ](https://i0.wp.com/greenlivingguy.com/wp-content/uploads/
2019/09/99BDAF78-A276-4271-BA3A-72D708E0A5C0-e1568594106145.png?resize=285%2C182&
quality=50&ssl=1)

CREDIT: WCS Mozambique

### Crucial Role

_Elephants play a crucial ecological role in their habitats._ They dig pools of 
water. Those that many other animals depend on. For they also open forest trails
and clearings. Accomplished gardeners, they disperse seeds over many miles. Thereby
making way for new life to grow. For in Central Africa, the tropical forests they
help maintain. I mean they are among our most important resources. All to most importantly
fight climate change.

#### **Fast Facts**

Scientific Name Loxodonta africana
 Elephants have complex social behavior. When
a member of the herd dies, they cover the body with grass and dirt and stay near
the site for several hours.

African savannah elephants communicate across great distances at low frequencies
that cannot be heard by humans.

#### Herd

An elephant herd consists of related females and their young and is managed by the
eldest female. Adult male elephants rarely join a herd and lead a solitary life,
only approaching herds during mating season.

African savannah elephants may live up to 70 years in the wild, longer than any 
other mammals except humans.

#### Trunk

An elephant’s trunk has more than 40,000 muscles and tendons. The trunk can lift
large objects, yet its sensitive tip can manipulate very small things.

### **Challenges**

[Habitat loss and poaching](https://greenlivingguy.com/2014/02/wildlife-trafficking-a-growing-global-crisis/)
are the biggest concerns for the survival of elephants. As the human footprint has
grown in Africa, elephant habitats have been converted to farmland, deforested by
industrial logging and mining, and otherwise developed by roads and settlements.
Poachers kill elephants for their ivory and meat, and farmers sometimes kill them
to protect their crops, which elephants often raid. The IUCN lists African savannah
elephant populations as Vulnerable.

#### **WCS Responds**

[Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)](https://www.wcs.org/) works throughout much
of the elephant’s [remaining habitat](https://greenlivingguy.com/2014/02/wildlife-trafficking-a-growing-global-crisis/).
All to monitor and manage populations. As well to find novel approaches to reduce
human-elephant conflict. One way to decrease elephant raids on human crops is to
help farmers devise methods of keeping elephants away. Such examples include using
chili pepper smoke. Also chili pepper spray blasted from guns. All which serves 
as a noxious airborne deterrent. WCS supports the Elephant Pepper Development Trust.
It’s a program that sells hot sauce grown from alternative pepper crops to aid local
farmers and elephant protection efforts.

#### **96 Elephants**

[Wildlife Conservation Society](https://www.wcs.org/our-work/species/african-elephants),(
WCS) along with numerous partners are part of a new global movement to protect Africa’s
elephants. We were humbled to contribute to this effort through the creation of 
[96Elephants.org.  This is ](https://www.wcs.org/96-elephants)a site to spread awareness
and action to protect this noble species.

As poachers target the older matriarchs for their large tusks, a generation of young,
orphaned African elephants is growing up without guidance. The consequences can 
be deadly. During Tanzania’s drought of 1993, matriarchs that endured a similar 
[event](https://greenlivingguy.com/2021/07/10-ways-faith-groups-are-combating-global-environment/)
decades earlier knew where to lead their herds for food and water. Groups with matriarchs
too young to remember the previous drought lost more than half of their calves that
year.

WCS has been supporting elephant studies in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. 
For it’s one of the best parks in Africa. All to see large herds of calm elephants.
Our main goals there are to protect migration routes and dispersal areas beyond 
the park’s relatively safe boundaries and to work with local Maasai and tourism 
operators to accomplish this.

#### Local Governments

Working with local governments to curtail poaching, WCS undertakes a fundraising
effort. All to support game wardens in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic
of Congo.

In addition, the wardens suffered attacks by armed militias who were poaching elephants
in the park. Similarly, WCS also sounded the alarm when poachers with automatic 
rifles. They killed 2,000 savannah elephants in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. WCS
subsequently established a fund to help save the park’s surviving elephants. They
are numbering fewer than 1,000. A WCS pilot and light aircraft that are based in
Zakouma continually provide information to Chad’s park service about poaching activities
and elephant herd locations.

### No Poaching

Now as a result, WCS reports there have been [zero instances of elephant poaching.. ](https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/12486/TRUMPETING-SUCCESS-FOR-ELEPHANTS-WCS-and-Partners-Have-Registered-Zero-Cases-of-Elephant-Poaching-in-Mozambiques-Niassa-Reserve-for-a-Full-Year.aspx)
That’s all consequently for the past 12 months in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve.

Finally, conservationists attribute the elimination of poaching to this effort. 
Because in the park to a collaborative effort with the Government of Mozambique 
and concession operators in the park. So combined with deployment of a special police
rapid intervention unit. It’s an increased aviation program providing surveillance
and the deployment of a helicopter and Cessna aircraft. Again similarly tough new
sentencing of poachers.

#### Conclusion

In conclusion, the reserve is located in northern Mozambique. It is one of Africa’s
largest (17,104 square miles or 42,300 sq. km), wildest, and most spectacular landscapes.
Finally it’s comprising 28% of Mozambique’s conservation areas.

Monarch butterfly [populations have significantly declined](https://greenlivingguy.com/2025/10/wildlife-population-decline-in-latin-america/)
over the past two decades. Especially due to habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide
use [1]. Sustainable urban planning efforts must be incorporating green spaces into
urban areas. That’s so they become important in protecting and conserving wildlife
habitats. That’s including those of monarch butterflies [1]. The [decline in monarch butterfly populations](https://greenlivingguy.com/2023/03/reports-monarch-butterfly-population-decline/)
is a concerning issue. One that needs to be addressed by implementing conservation
measures. Moreover and sustainable urban planning strategies [1].

Protecting wildlife habitats is crucial. That’s most importantly as they play a 
critical role in maintaining ecosystems [2]. The [Wildlife Conservation](https://greenlivingguy.com/2014/05/wildlife-conservation-efforts-in-mississippis-delta-region/)
Society (WCS) focuses on preventing illegal hunting, protecting elephant habitat,
monitoring elephant numbers, reducing ivory trafficking, and reducing the demand
for ivory [1]. WCS works with governments, trains rangers, develops intelligence
networks, and enforces laws to minimize illegal killing and poaching of elephants[
1][2]. A new AI-powered camera system is being tested in Gabon to help protect African
forest elephants, which could also benefit other threatened species [3].

##### **References:**

[1] [Elephants – WCS.org](https://www.wcs.org/our-work/wildlife/elephants) [2] [Opinion | Slaughter of the African Elephants](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/slaughter-of-the-african-elephants.html)[
3] [AI tech is helping to protect African forest elephants](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/africa-endangered-forest-elephants-ai/)
I’m

![As poachers target the older matriarchs for their large tusks, a generation of
young, orphaned African elephants is growing up without guidance. The consequences
can be deadly. During Tanzania’s drought of 1993, matriarchs that endured a similar
event decades earlier knew where to lead their herds for food and water. Groups 
with matriarchs too young to remember the previous drought lost more than half of
their calves that year.](https://i0.wp.com/greenlivingguy.com/wp-content/uploads/
2014/01/20140124-215725.jpg?resize=700%2C465&quality=52&ssl=1)

Elephants at play

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s=300&d=monsterid&r=g)

 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
expert, and Editor of the McGraw-Hill, TAB Green Guru Guides. Seth is also an Author,
Radio Host, Reporter, Writer and an Environmental Consultant on green living. The
Green Living Guy writes about green living, green lighting, the green guru guides
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