African elephants in coastal refuges

The history and status of relict elephant populations in three sites in coastal regions, Kakum in Ghana, and Addo and Knysna in South Africa, illustrate common elements effecting the survival of elephant populations within human dominated landscapes. Elephants survived within coastal regions of all...

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Main Author: Joseph Dudley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IUCN 1996-06-01
Series:Pachyderm
Online Access:https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/846
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author Joseph Dudley
author_facet Joseph Dudley
author_sort Joseph Dudley
collection DOAJ
description The history and status of relict elephant populations in three sites in coastal regions, Kakum in Ghana, and Addo and Knysna in South Africa, illustrate common elements effecting the survival of elephant populations within human dominated landscapes. Elephants survived within coastal regions of all three situations due to the presence of core habitat within government forest areas, and it was the habitat refuge rather than the protected status that was the key factor. All three sites are currently isolated from contact with other elephant populations and have been for some time. All three were initially protected under forest reserve status by colonial administration and either maintained or upgraded to National Parks by subsequent national governments. The detailed historical data available for Knysna and Addo elephant populations represent a unique opportunity for investigating the genetic consequences of bottlenecks and reintroduction within isolated elephant populations and could be used to assess the likelihood of prior population bottlenecks within such populations as Kakum where the past history is uncertain.
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spelling doaj-art-700df374809d4189b1cbadc47fd79db62025-08-20T03:48:22ZengIUCNPachyderm1026-28811683-50181996-06-0121110.69649/pachyderm.v21i1.846African elephants in coastal refugesJoseph Dudley The history and status of relict elephant populations in three sites in coastal regions, Kakum in Ghana, and Addo and Knysna in South Africa, illustrate common elements effecting the survival of elephant populations within human dominated landscapes. Elephants survived within coastal regions of all three situations due to the presence of core habitat within government forest areas, and it was the habitat refuge rather than the protected status that was the key factor. All three sites are currently isolated from contact with other elephant populations and have been for some time. All three were initially protected under forest reserve status by colonial administration and either maintained or upgraded to National Parks by subsequent national governments. The detailed historical data available for Knysna and Addo elephant populations represent a unique opportunity for investigating the genetic consequences of bottlenecks and reintroduction within isolated elephant populations and could be used to assess the likelihood of prior population bottlenecks within such populations as Kakum where the past history is uncertain. https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/846
spellingShingle Joseph Dudley
African elephants in coastal refuges
Pachyderm
title African elephants in coastal refuges
title_full African elephants in coastal refuges
title_fullStr African elephants in coastal refuges
title_full_unstemmed African elephants in coastal refuges
title_short African elephants in coastal refuges
title_sort african elephants in coastal refuges
url https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/846
work_keys_str_mv AT josephdudley africanelephantsincoastalrefuges