Special guest Jodie Berezin, UMass Undergraduate | November 5, 2017

February 7th, 2017, Lake Manyara National Park, Arusha District, Tanzania.

    This was the beginning of my very first African safari and the day I saw my first wild African elephants. The morning was warm and bright as we drove through the ground water forest at the entrance of the park. The air smelled of damp vegetation and the old trees stood, tall and regal, as olive baboons were foraging on the road and hornbills flying overhead. As we got through the forest, we came out to a more open bushland area where we saw zebra, buffalo, gazelle, giraffe, and baboons.
    It was nearly 2 pm and we still hadn’t seen any signs of elephants. I was getting anxious, but I was quickly relieved when we spotted an elephant family (Figure 1)! It consisted of 8 adults and 4 calves being followed by a smaller adult male. They were clearly being led by a very large and old female with crossed tusks and a young calf. The calf was silly and tripped a little on the hill he was walking down, and his mom and a younger adult female came over to grumble at him to make sure he was okay. As they emerged from the forest, I was immediately enthralled. I couldn’t look away and I also could not stop crying! All I could see was the beauty, intelligence and complexity of such a remarkable animal. I was so lucky that they even walked directly next to the car. I was able to look right in the big brown eyes of my favorite animal in the world. I was struck with an entirely new level of love and respect for elephants.

Figure 1. The very first elephant family I ever saw. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

      I always knew I loved elephants, even from a very young age. There are a few things that draw me to them now, such as their intelligence, complexity and gentle nature. However, there was no particular thing that first inspired my love for them as a child. I saw my first elephant in the Santa Barbara Zoo in 1999, and my mom even wrote me a letter about how they were my favorite (Figure 2). 

Figure 2. A note from my mother, dated 1999, about my favorite animal at the zoo. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

     Figure 3. Me, observing an elephant’s calf suckling the mom. They were really close here! Photo by Jodie Berezin.

       In order to pursue that passion, I wanted to study abroad in Africa, since that would give me a chance to observe the amazing variety of African wildlife, including elephants. The program I chose for this experience was the School for Field Studies, based out of a small agricultural village called Rhotia, in northern Tanzania. While I spent lots of time in class, at least two days each week we went out on some type of educational field trip, interacting with locals and conducting field research. We also had the opportunity to do two multi-day safari/camping trips, one in Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks and Manyara Ranch and the second in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. I chose this program because of the hands on activities relating to wildlife conservation and research such as scat sampling, vegetation surveys and methods of population monitoring. I was also excited about the inclusion of a directed field research project. This element was very important for me because I knew I wanted research experience and this gave me a very good introduction to what field research is really like. 

     Just by sheer chance, a few of the research projects involved elephants so my dreams of working with elephants in the wild started to come true. The directed research project I chose focused on sociality and grouping among male elephants. Until recently, male, or bull, elephants were considered to be primarily solitary, only interacting with other males in passing. However, there have been many recent studies that counter this assumption [1,2,3,4,5]. I am happy to that report my research did the same! I witnessed many instances of males grouping and bonding. Across ages, males were more likely to be found in all male groups, or bachelor groups, than alone. I even observed a very young male feeding and standing close enough to touch a much older male. 

Figure 4. A larger, older male, foraging with a very young bull. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

     I also witnessed a truly amazing scene in which 10 different bulls of all ages came together from different locations to play in the water together! I could tell that they were from different areas because of differences in the coloration of their skin. It was so surprising to see this because sociality in males is a relatively new area of elephant behavior and little is known about how and why males communicate. These accounts offer great data for unshrouding the mystery surrounding the sociality of bull elephants. Overall, the directed research expanded my field work, computer, and writing skills and I learned many new things about elephants that I may not have had the chance to learn otherwise.

Figure 5. A group of 10 bulls of all ages, playing in the water together. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

    While it’s great to know more about elephants, we also need to apply that knowledge to conserving these incredible animals. In the area of Tanzania that I was living in, the elephant population has been increasing and poaching levels have been going down. While this population increase is great news in some ways, it can also bring new challenges. For example, increasing populations means more chances for human-elephant conflict. Elephants will sometimes leave the protected areas to find food sources, including nearby farms with crops like pigeon peas and maize. Solitary bulls are more likely to leave the protected areas because they can move silently and quickly, whereas family groups would have to risk their calves being injured or killed. Farmers will sometimes kill these elephants in retaliation, even though they aren’t always killing the same bull that ate those crops to begin with. My supervising professors, Dr. John Kioko and Dr. Christian Kiffner, have been conducting research to try to help with this. They have been testing bee fences (fences with beehives evenly spaced around crops), and oil and chili soaked rag fences surrounding crops. Both methods have pros and cons, so it is a work in progress. There was also a discussion about programs to promote planting crops that elephants do not like adjacent to the parks, such as chili and coffee. Ultimately, in studying their behavior, we are able to understand their actions and in turn work on mitigating and preventing human-elephant conflict to make for a more peaceful coexistence between man and beast. 

Figure 6. A young bull, playing with a stick. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

    My trip to Tanzania taught me so much about my passion and helped me to realize happiness does not come from material goods, instead from a supportive community, new experiences and becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. Being able to completely disconnect from social media and the pressures of my normal, first world life really allowed me to live in the moment- it was peaceful, thought provoking and personally challenging. During the first safari, my camera actually died and it was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to just look around and experience everything more fully. My study abroad experience has truly shaped who I am, and I will be forever grateful for this chance to closely study the animals I’ve always loved from afar.

Figure 7. A large bull with a hole in his trunk, resting. Photo by Jodie Berezin.

Figure 8. A very old bull, probably around 50-55 years old, also called “Tuskers” (because of how thick his tusks are). Photo by Jodie Berezin.

References

[1] Moss, C. (1988). Elephant memories: Thirteen years in the life of an elephant family. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.

[2] O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E., Wood, J. D., Kinzley, C., Rodwell, T. C., Alarcon, C., Wasser, S. K., & Sapolsky, R. (2011). Male African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) queue when the stakes are high. Ethology, Ecology & Evolution, 23, 388-397.

[3] Chiyo, P. I., Archie, E. A., Hollister-Smith, J. A., Lee, P. C., Poole, J. H., Moss, C. J., & Alberts, S. C. (2011). Associations patterns of African elephants in all-male groups: the role of age and genetic relatedness. Animal Behavior, 81, 1093-1099.

[4] Chiyo, P. I., Wilson, J. W., Archie, E. A., Lee, P. C., Moss, C. J., & Alberts, S. C. (2014). The influence of forage, protected areas, and mating prospects on grouping patterns of male elephants. Behavioral Ecology, 25, 1494-1504.

[5] Fishlock, V., & Lee, P. C. (2012). Forest elephants: fission-fusion and social arenas. Animal Behavior, 85, 357-363.