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The quantification of vegetation structure and composition at local and global scales provides valuable information for understanding the balance of the natural and human-made environment, which is crucial for natural resource planning and management, and the sustenance of ecosystem biodiversity. In this study, we proposed using the Sentinel 2A imagery to classify vegetation cover into communities based on the floristic association of individual vegetation species. We apply traditional remote sensing techniques to process the satellite image and identify training regions of interest (ROI) which are thoroughly assessed for spectral uniqueness before using the pixel-based supervised classification algorithms for our classification. Ground truthing assessment and species dominance computations are done to determine the vegetation community composition and naming based on floristic associations. We apply the floristic compositions output in analysing elephant movement tracks in the area, to assess the potential influence the location of specific vegetation species and communities utilized by elephants has on their movement and presence, as well as on elephant bulls and family groupings. The results show that the 10 m spatial resolution Sentinel-2A is suitable for investigating and mapping vegetation species in communities for large-scale mapping operations. We determined Near-Infrared band 8 and shortwave Infrared band 11 as key for identifying and differentiating ROIs at the floristic association community vegetation mapping level. We attained an overall accuracy of 87.395%. The analysis proved the 10 m spatial resolution of Sentinel 2A to be sufficient in distinguishing vegetation communities, including those with similar dominant species but variations in other contributing species. We also found a direct connection between vegetation location and elephant movement based on the summative analysis of utilised vegetation by the different elephant groupings. Bull elephants were predominantly present in areas with Combretum, family groups in areas with Commiphora, and mixed groups with both bulls and families in areas with Commiphora, and Cissus. This study shows the value that remote-sensing scientific support can offer conservationists and governments in objective evidence-based land management, policy making and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With extinction rates far exceeding the natural background rate, reliable monitoring of wildlife populations has become crucial for adaptive management and conservation. Robust monitoring is often labor intensive with high economic costs, particularly in the case of those species that are subject to illegal poaching, such as elephants, which require frequent and accurate population estimates over large spatial scales. Dung counting methods are commonly employed to estimate the density of elephants; however, in the absence of a full survey calibration, these can be unreliable in heterogeneous habitats where dung decay rates may be highly variable. We explored whether motion‐sensitive cameras offer a simple, lower cost, and reliable alternative for monitoring in challenging forest environments. We estimated the density of African savanna elephants (Loxodanta africana) in a montane forest using the random encounter model and assessed the importance of surveying parameters for future survey design. We deployed motion‐sensitive cameras in 65 locations in the Aberdare Conservation Area in Kenya during June to August in 2015 to 2017, for a survey effort of 967 days, and a mean encounter rate of 0.09 ± 0.29 (SD) images/day. Elephants were captured in 16 locations. Density estimates varied between vegetation types, with estimates ranging from 6.27/km2 in shrub, 1.1/km2 in forest, 0.53/km2 in bamboo (Yushania alpine), and 0.44/km2 in the moorlands. The average speed of animal movement and the camera detection zone had the strongest linear associations with density estimates (R = −0.97). The random encounter model has the potential to offer an alternative, or complementary method within the active management framework for monitoring elephant populations in forests at a relatively low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rangers collect law enforcement monitoring (LEM) data during their patrols in protected areas. These data are increasingly used to interpret patrolling effectiveness and to predict poaching activity. However, LEM data can contain biases that may weaken the conclusions derived from such analyses. Research data, collected from 82 km of desnaring transects and interviews with 31 rangers, were compared with recorded LEM data. The latter included a logbook in which poacher sightings were documented, desnaring reports containing the locations of known snaring hotspots, and patrol strategies, containing the allocation of ranger patrols within the conservancy. Our findings suggest that the poaching prevalence reported through the LEM data is likely to constitute an underestimation of the true prevalence. Patrolling strategies were found to be predictable, allowing poachers to evade detection. One‐third of the interviewed rangers admitted to not reporting sighted poachers. We conclude that the use of LEM data for analysis or poaching prediction by managers of protected areas or researchers requires careful consideration of patrol predictability, possible displacement of poaching activity, and ranger culture and morale in order to avoid underestimation of true poaching prevalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many elephant populations in Africa, adverse effects of poaching including altered age and sex structure and long calving intervals continue to negatively impact the rate of recovery. The study reported here characterized the demographic status of the elephant population in Meru National Park, Kenya, so as to determine the size, age and sex structure, and calving interval of the population and to compare its demographic parameters against those from the relatively stable elephant population at Amboseli. Additionally, a demographic study conducted 7 years earlier enabled us to determine the demographic performance of the population and to explicitly test the utility of the individual identification technique in monitoring intermittently studied populations. We found 392 elephants in the park. The proportion of older individuals was lower, and the calving interval was longer than estimates from Amboseli. We recognized 16% of elephants indexed in the previous study. Our results suggest that the individual identification technique may be useful in monitoring demographic changes including poaching in intermittently studied elephant populations. Overall, our results suggest that although the Meru elephant population showed signs of recovery, poaching continues to imperil its recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to curb elephant poaching have focused on reducing demand, confiscating ivory and boosting security patrols in elephant range. Where land is under multiple uses and ownership, determining the local poaching dynamics is important for identifying successful conservation models. Using 2,403 verified elephant, Loxodonta africana, mortality records collected from 2002 to 2012 and the results of aerial total counts of elephants conducted in 2002, 2008 and 2012 for the Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem of northern Kenya, we sought to determine the influence of land ownership and use on diurnal elephant distribution and on poaching levels. We show that the annual proportions of illegally killed (i.e., poached) elephants increased over the 11 years of the study, peaking at 70% of all recorded deaths in 2012. The type of land use was more strongly related to levels of poaching than was the type of ownership. Private ranches, comprising only 13% of land area, hosted almost half of the elephant population and had significantly lower levels of poaching than other land use types except for the officially designated national reserves (covering only 1.6% of elephant range in the ecosystem). Communal grazing lands hosted significantly fewer elephants than expected, but community areas set aside for wildlife demonstrated significantly higher numbers of elephants and lower illegal killing levels relative to non-designated community lands. While private lands had lower illegal killing levels than community conservancies, the success of the latter relative to other community-held lands shows the importance of this model of land use for conservation. This work highlights the relationship between illegal killing and various land ownership and use models, which can help focus anti-poaching activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the spatial-temporal patterns of elephant poaching in Tsavo East National Park to establish and map the density of poached elephants as well as model elephant poaching hotspots. Data on poached elephants for the period between 10 October 1989 and 2 July 2005 was acquired from the Kenya Wildlife Service elephant mortality database at the headquarters. The results indicate a higher concentration of overall poaching mainly in the central and northern parts of the park. Both dry and wet season elephant poaching ellipses indicate that seasonal elephant poaching exhibited similar spatial orientation and their centers of distribution lay approximately in the central part of the park. Kernel density analysis depicted dry season poaching hotspots on the Tiva and Galana rivers in the northwest and central-western parts of the park. Sites with moderate dry season elephant poaching included the southeastern tip of the park on Voi River and the central-eastern part. There were two main wet season poaching hotspots occurring along the lower part of Galana River across the park. Moderate wet season poaching sites were spread along Tiva River to the north of the park through the central parts of the park, to the southeastern tip on Voi River. The risk to elephant poaching map for wet season indicated areas at highest risk as occurring mainly in the central-east, south of Sala gate toward the southeastern edge of park, and in the northeastern parts of the park. The area of highest risk to elephant poaching during the dry season occurred along the Tiva River, central parts of the Galana and Voi rivers. Elephant risk to poaching during the dry season indicated areas of highest risk as concentrated along the main rivers, where water is available throughout the year. An overall risk to poaching map indicated areas with the highest risk to elephant poaching occurred in the central part of the Tiva River and the central-eastern parts of the Galana River. In order to provide adequate security of elephants throughout the year, there is need to re-deploy wildlife policing resources (equipment and personnel) to high risk areas as well as have temporally security mobile units in the open plains during the wet season. There is also need to open more security patrol roads on the eastern side of Sangayaya and Ithumba areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oryx callotis O. Thomas, 1982 (fringe-eared oryx) is a relatively large, long-bodied bovid, with an appropriate common name because of its distinguishing tufts of hair extending from the ends of the ears. It occupies arid lands in Kenya and Tanzania. O. callotis can go up to a month without drinking water if succulent vegetation is available. Some herds have been semidomesticated, and 60% of the presumed 17,000 wild individuals exist in wildlife reserves, currently receiving some protection from settlement and poaching. O. callotis is considered ''Vulnerable'' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources but as a subspecies of O. beisa, which is listed as ''Near Threatened.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal population dynamics can be driven by changing climatic forcing, shifting habitat conditions, trophic interactions and anthropogenic influences. To understand these influences, we analyzed trends in populations of seven ungulate species counted during 15 years (1989–2003) of monthly monitoring using vehicle ground counts in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Abundance of six species declined markedly and persistently throughout the reserve during this period. The declines were contemporaneous with progressive habitat deterioration due to changing land use in pastoral ranches bordering the reserve, habitat desiccation due to rising temperatures, recurrent severe droughts and an exceptional ENSO flood in 1997–1998. The effect of progressive habitat deterioration was accentuated by illicit harvest, competition with livestock and elevated predation. After factoring out the influence of rainfall, ungulate populations declined more markedly in sections of the reserve experiencing greater livestock incursions and poaching. The declines were significantly correlated with increasing number of settlements and people in the pastoral ranches for five species. Heightened predation following a crash in the buffalo Syncerus caffer population during a severe drought in 1993 had little support as the primary cause of the declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kenya knowledge of the relative severity of threats to protected areas and the vulnerability of these areas to any threats is lacking. Such information is required, however, for assessment of the effectiveness of management of the country's protected areas, and to help identify critical management and policy weaknesses and priorities for improving management and allocating resources. We therefore studied the relative severity of threats to Kenya's 50 protected areas and their relative vulnerability to such threats based on the perceptions of protected area managers. Ten threats were identified by these managers, of which the most severe were illegal bushmeat hunting, poaching of large mammals, human-wildlife conflicts, human encroachment, and loss of migration corridors and dispersal areas. Thirty-two (64%) protected areas were vulnerable to over half of the threats, 54% vulnerable to over six of the threats and 32% vulnerable to over seven of the threats. Protected areas in marine, forested/montane and inland wetland ecosystems were regarded as highly vulnerable to the perceived threats. Protected areas adjacent to urban/industrial and agricultural areas were vulnerable to most of the threats. Our findings demonstrate that protected areas in Kenya are increasingly threatened, that major threats needs to be mitigated, and that prioritization of protected areas for strategic actions is required for effective management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual based demographic records of the elephants utilizing Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves were collected from 1998 through 2003 and indicate that this elephant population was increasing at an average rate of 4.6% per year. Although the majority of carcasses were not found, known sources of mortality include disease, injury, and predation by lions and humans. Poaching did occur during the study period, however the population is increasing and thus our findings indicate ivory poaching has limited impact on the demographic status of these elephants. This population is part of the Samburu/Laikipia MIKE Site and thus its status is relevant to CITES ligislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation in individual demographic rates can have large consequences for populations. Female reproductive skew is an example of structured demographic heterogeneity where females have intrinsic qualities that make them more or less likely to breed. The consequences of reproductive skew for population dynamics are poorly understood in non-cooperatively breeding mammals, especially when coupled with other drivers such as poaching. We address this knowledge gap with population viability analyses using an age-specific, female-only, individual-based, stochastic population model built with long-term data for three Kenyan populations of the Critically Endangered eastern black rhino ( Diceros bicornis michaeli). There was substantial reproductive skew, with a high proportion of females not breeding or doing so at very low rates. This had a large impact on the projected population growth rate for the smaller population on Ol Jogi. Moreover, including female reproductive skew exacerbates the effects of poaching, increasing the probability of extinction by approximately 70% under a simulated poaching pressure of 5% offtake per year. Tackling the effects of reproductive skew depends on whether it is mediated by habitat or social factors, with potential strategies including habitat and biological management respectively. Investigating and tackling reproductive skew in other species requires long-term, individual-level data collection.

Comparing parasitic infection among individuals of wildlife populations can provide insight into factors that influence wildlife disease ecology. Strongylids are parasitic worms that infect the intestinal tract of vertebrates, and infection with strongylids can be approximated by counting strongylid eggs in dung samples. Here we tested for correlations between strongylid egg counts and 18 different individual characteristics, environmental and social factors in individually known wild African elephants. We counted more eggs in the dung samples of younger elephants and females relative to mature elephants and males. We also found that elephants spending more time outside reserves shed more strongylid eggs than elephants that were more often within reserves. Elephants that were less socially integrated, as measured by how much aggression they received from other elephants, shed fewer strongylid eggs; relatedly, socially isolated orphan elephants that had left their family shed fewer strongylid eggs than elephants that remained with their family. Our results suggest that landscapes altered by livestock grazing and social disruption caused by humans may impact parasitic infection in wildlife.

The article discusses the escalation of elephant poaching (EP) incidents in Kenya caused by the high value of elephant ivory (EI). According to Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director for education and conservation Paul Mbugua, a kilogram of EI is priced at about two thousand dollars on the black market. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora is being blamed by some conservation groups for the increase in EP.

The article reports that seven wildlife rangers patrolling the Tana River District in Kenya were attacked by a group of armed men, suspected to be poachers. The gun fight resulted on the death of three rangers and four attackers. The area where the attack happened is the site of three national parks, were poaching is common. A wildlife officer was also killed and three others injured in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Mai Mai rebels. Meanwhile, three rangers were shot dead in the Zakouma National Park in Chad.

Abstract The black rhino in Africa is slowly recovering from poaching. This has been achieved in part by maintaining ongoing monitoring as part of intensive protection and biological management. However, the efficacy of population monitoring methods has not been assessed. Rhino surveillance records and rainfall data were used to determine which ecological and operational factors affected monthly rhino sightings by vehicle patrols in Masai Mara, Kenya. Comparisons of sightings capture rates using different ground-based and aerial methods were also conducted. Stepwise multiple regression revealed a model (adjusted R 2 = 0.66) predicting monthly rhino sightings with four significant factors; number of patrols, rhino population size, rainfall over the previous 2 months and a dummy variable for the month of August. The latter two variables represent the negative effects of long grass growth and the annual wildebeest migration on rhino sightings, and result in seasonal deficiencies in monitoring. During vehicle patrols, 51% of sightings were made whilst moving, and 49% were made whilst stationary and scanning with binoculars, although sightings capture rate was an order of magnitude higher when stationary. Equally, sightings capture rate from hot air balloons was twice that during vehicle-based patrols, although with less accuracy of identification. The introduction of foot patrols would increase patrol cost-effectiveness and fill seasonal troughs, thereby providing better all-round surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]