Wildlife and People:
Conflict & Conservation in Masai Mara, Kenya

Human-elephant conflict

There are approximately half a million African elephants, and around 80% of elephant range falls outside national parks and other protected areas. Where people and elephants coexist, conflict is likely to take place. Most often it involves crop raiding, but it can also include destruction of property, disturbance of activities such as travel to school or work, and either injury or death of both people and elephants. Human-elephant conflict is viewed as a major obstacle to elephant conservation by the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group.

Since 1998 we have been studying human-elephant conflict in the Mara ecosystem and testing a range of simple solutions.

The area to the north-west of the Reserve, above the Siria Escarpment in Transmara District, is heavily settled by both Maasai and non-Maasai communities. Much of the original forest cover has disappeared under cultivation, and as a result crop raiding has increased. We have trained a team of eleven community scouts to monitor this conflict throughout the district, in order to provide detailed information for our research and for local Kenya Wildlife Service wardens to help them manage and mitigate conflict.

We are also working closely with local communities to develop crop protection methods and to explore alternative livelihoods based around forest conservation and tourism. If these methods are successful then people may be more likely to tolerate elephants, giving them a greater chance of survival.

Our work has found that some of the simple methods that farmers use for deterring elephants, such as guarding, lighting fires, and banging tins and drums really can have an effect, but it is important to detect the elephants before they enter fields of crops. Elephant early warning systems are essential, and we have been helping farmers to construct watchtowers and to guard their farms communally.

We have also been experimenting with the use of chilli as an elephant deterrent. Originally developed in Zimbabwe, the finding that elephants are not keen on chilli is spreading across Africa, and various chilli-based methods, from buffer crops to spray guns, are being applied. In our programme we are using chillies to make pungent grease that is spread on fences and ropes around fields of maize. We are also exploring the idea of marketing chilli as an alternative cash crop that is not vulnerable to elephants.

Continued monitoring of these methods suggests that they really can have an impact and reduce crop raiding.

We have developed close links with Kenya Wildlife Service in the progress of this work, and are grateful to the continued support of WWF, a critical project partner that has provided funds, logistical support and technical advice since the inception of the project. Currently we are exploring the development of a third phase of this work in collaboration with WWF.

Publications

Sitati, N.W., Walpole, M.J., Smith, R.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2003). Predicting spatial aspects of human-elephant conflict. Journal of Applied Ecology 40, 667-677.

Leader-Williams, N., Smith, R.J. & Walpole, M.J. (2001). Elephant hunting and conservation. Science 293, 2203.