Long distance movements of elephants in northern Kenya

Movements of the elephant population of Samburu and Laikipia Districts in northern Kenya were studied between 1990 and 1992. This population consists of about 3000 animals, and is the largest existing in Kenya primarily outside protected areas. Radio-tracking of a sample of twenty females indicated that a portion of the population, estimated at 800 individuals, moved a distance of up to 140 km north from the cattle ranches of Laikipia to the drier pastoralist areas of Samburu twice a year, during the two rainy seasons. Six elephants from this sub-population were monitored. Their movements gave the appearance of a regular migration between small dry season ranges and larger wet season ranges. Northward movements were associated with rainfall in the Samburu range land, and the return to the south was related to the drying up of temporary water sources. Until the 1970s the majority of elephants in the area were resident in Samburu. It is suggested that the main reasons for the development of long distance movements were the change in the dominant vegetation in Laikipia from grassland to bushland and an increase in the number of permanent water sources, together with an upsurge in poaching in Samburu in the 1970s. The reason for the continuation of these movements, despite the recent decrease in poaching, may be competition for water with the increased human population in Samburu. In contrast to Samburu, the Laikipia ranch lands have abundant permanent water, and little human disturbance.