Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns

Habitat selection and group formation in Masai Mara National Reserve fits the general pattern observed in other African populations. Both sexes preferred habitat types with large quantities of nutritious grasses during the wet season and both tended to select browse vegetation in the dry season. Th...

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Main Author: Holly Dublin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IUCN 1996-12-01
Series:Pachyderm
Online Access:https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/854
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author Holly Dublin
author_facet Holly Dublin
author_sort Holly Dublin
collection DOAJ
description Habitat selection and group formation in Masai Mara National Reserve fits the general pattern observed in other African populations. Both sexes preferred habitat types with large quantities of nutritious grasses during the wet season and both tended to select browse vegetation in the dry season. The larger average group size in the wet season were not the result of random aggregations but rather the result of bull joining cow-calf herds for breeding. The formation of larger groups in the wet season, when food is not limited, probably allows elephants to interact, to determine dominance hierachies and to re-establish bonds. During the early 1990s the elephant population in the area stands at about 1,500 animals.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1026-2881
1683-5018
language English
publishDate 1996-12-01
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series Pachyderm
spelling doaj-art-8f89154de80243f2add99cd635a13d7d2025-08-20T03:48:22ZengIUCNPachyderm1026-28811683-50181996-12-0122110.69649/pachyderm.v22i1.854Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patternsHolly Dublin Habitat selection and group formation in Masai Mara National Reserve fits the general pattern observed in other African populations. Both sexes preferred habitat types with large quantities of nutritious grasses during the wet season and both tended to select browse vegetation in the dry season. The larger average group size in the wet season were not the result of random aggregations but rather the result of bull joining cow-calf herds for breeding. The formation of larger groups in the wet season, when food is not limited, probably allows elephants to interact, to determine dominance hierachies and to re-establish bonds. During the early 1990s the elephant population in the area stands at about 1,500 animals. https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/854
spellingShingle Holly Dublin
Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
Pachyderm
title Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
title_full Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
title_fullStr Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
title_full_unstemmed Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
title_short Elephants of the Masai Mara, Kenya: seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
title_sort elephants of the masai mara kenya seasonal habitat selection and group size patterns
url https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/854
work_keys_str_mv AT hollydublin elephantsofthemasaimarakenyaseasonalhabitatselectionandgroupsizepatterns