Mon, 19 Feb 2024 03:47:54 +1100
Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/05/african-elephant-populations-stabilise-in-southern-heartlands>
"African elephant populations have stabilised in their southern heartlands
after huge losses over the last century, according to the most comprehensive
analysis of growth rates to date.
The latest analysis also provides the strongest data so far showing that
protected areas that are connected to other places are far better than isolated
“fortress” parks at maintaining stable populations, by allowing the elephants
to migrate back and forth between areas as they did naturally in the past.
When numbers rise in highly protected core areas, corridors into less protected
buffer areas allow the animals to disperse. They may also migrate if poaching
increases or drought strikes. If numbers later fall in the core areas, or
conditions improve, elephants can flow back again. However, many more people
live in the buffer areas and the scientists said careful planning was crucial
to minimise conflicts with the elephants, which can kill people and destroy
crops.
In contrast to the connected areas, the scientists found that isolated parks,
which keep animals in and people out, can lead to unsustainable population
booms, and in turn sometimes mass deaths or culling.
“For decades, news from southern Africa was dominated by waves of poaching and
other threats,” said Dr Robert Guldemond at the University of Pretoria, South
Africa, and part of the study team. “But there’s been a lot of good work done
that has basically turned the tide and that story has never really been told.”
Dr Ryan Huang, also at the University of Pretoria, said: “This is a good news
story for a lot of elephants. We’re changing from just halting declines and to
trying to achieve long term stability.”
Prof Stuart Pimm, of Duke University in the US, and also part of the team,
said: “We need to protect elephants, but we also need to connect them. We have
fragmented the world and we need to stitch it back together again.”"
Via Future Crunch:
<https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-cancer-canada-elephants-africa-batteries-china/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
"African elephant populations have stabilised in their southern heartlands
after huge losses over the last century, according to the most comprehensive
analysis of growth rates to date.
The latest analysis also provides the strongest data so far showing that
protected areas that are connected to other places are far better than isolated
“fortress” parks at maintaining stable populations, by allowing the elephants
to migrate back and forth between areas as they did naturally in the past.
When numbers rise in highly protected core areas, corridors into less protected
buffer areas allow the animals to disperse. They may also migrate if poaching
increases or drought strikes. If numbers later fall in the core areas, or
conditions improve, elephants can flow back again. However, many more people
live in the buffer areas and the scientists said careful planning was crucial
to minimise conflicts with the elephants, which can kill people and destroy
crops.
In contrast to the connected areas, the scientists found that isolated parks,
which keep animals in and people out, can lead to unsustainable population
booms, and in turn sometimes mass deaths or culling.
“For decades, news from southern Africa was dominated by waves of poaching and
other threats,” said Dr Robert Guldemond at the University of Pretoria, South
Africa, and part of the study team. “But there’s been a lot of good work done
that has basically turned the tide and that story has never really been told.”
Dr Ryan Huang, also at the University of Pretoria, said: “This is a good news
story for a lot of elephants. We’re changing from just halting declines and to
trying to achieve long term stability.”
Prof Stuart Pimm, of Duke University in the US, and also part of the team,
said: “We need to protect elephants, but we also need to connect them. We have
fragmented the world and we need to stitch it back together again.”"
Via Future Crunch:
<https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-cancer-canada-elephants-africa-batteries-china/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
