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Ethiopia: 'Elephants Are Considered to Be a Keystone Species'
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The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
INTERVIEW
15 December 2007
Posted to the web 17 December 2007
Bruck Shewareged
Prof. Jeheskel (Hezy) Shoshani is an Evolutionary Biologist, and studied elephants for over thirty- five years. He is also a conservationist.
He has been with the Biology Department of Addis Ababa University since April 2007. He is also involved in a project to protect elephants found in the newly-formed Kafta-Shiraro National Park in Tigray region, northern Ethiopia.
Prof. Shoshani says he is worried about recent poaching incidents that threatened the elephants in the park.
Prof. Shoshani spoke to Bruck Shewareged about the danger that elephants face in Ethiopia, and what could be done to avert that danger. Excerpts:
How seriously are elephants in Ethiopia threatened?
In Ethiopia, there are nine isolated elephant populations. Each one of them is separated from the other. The highest number of elephants is found in Babile. These nine elephant populations are not able to communicate with each other because of human interference. The second highest population is, possibly, in Kafta-Shiraro National Park.
At the moment, relatively speaking, there isn't much threat as far as poachers are concerned. The threat might come from crop raiding, i.e. if the elephants enter farmlands, the farmers could kill them.
In Kafta-Shiraro, we have a new problem. There elephants are being killed not because they are destroying crops, but to remove their tusks. What do they do with their tusks? That, we don't know. Where is the market? That, we don't know, too. Whether the market is through Sudan to other places like Dubai, we cannot be sure. This is something we need to investigate.
The newly-formed Kafta-Shiraro park is found along the border with Eritrea, where there is tension. How secured is the park?
It is a three-month-old park. It was established at the end of July, 2007. The elephants move between Ethiopia and Eritrea. This has been part of the annual movement of elephants for thousands of years. This is not something just specific to Eritrea and Ethiopia. It happens in many places. They just move.
As far security is concerned, at the moment it is relatively safe except for these new incidents of poaching. This is quite alarming, and it is a cause for concern.
Apart from poaching, are these elephants threatened by environmental degradation?
At the moment, there isn't enough assessment of that park. It is a new park. It is a difficult question to answer. I think, it is better to say "I don't know".
How important are elephants in maintaining the ecological balance?
Elephants are considered to be a keystone species. By keystone species is meant species that can modify the habitat, and other animals benefit from that modification. For example, during the dry season, the elephants dig a hole for water. So after they dig water holes and finish drinking, other animals like monkeys, gazelles, birds etc come to drink from the water holes that the elephants have dug.
The other point is that elephants are very large animals. In fact, the African elephants are the largest living terrestrial mammals today. So, for such large mammals, they need a large home range to live in. A home range is an area where the animal moves around to search for food and water.
So to protect them, you need to protect a very large area. In the same place, you are also protecting other animals and plants. And this is another important part of the protection of large mammals. You can say elephants are keystone or super-keystone species.
What is the perception of the people around the Kafta-Shiraro park about the elephants? Do they feel threatened by the elephants that they are contributing their share to their culling or extermination elimination? Or are they friendly to the elephants?
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In general, they would like to protect them. Specifically, they like to see how they can benefit from the presence of the elephants. It is a natural desire for every one to draw mutual benefit. So we are trying to do our utmost to make sure that the local people benefit from the establishment of the park and the protection of the elephants. If we are successful, they will have incentive to protect them.
You argue that continued killings of elephants could affect their genetic makeup. Would you elaborate on that?
Every animal has its charismatic character. And the elephants' most charismatic character is the tusk. The tusk is like a tooth, like yours and mine. And the tusk grows throughout the elephant's life. The tusks do not stop to grow until the elephant dies.
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