Community | August 26, 2009 | 27 comments

Last of Africa's desert elephants ravaged by severe drought

source: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/08/-last-of-the-desert-elephants-in-west-africa-ra...

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A rare herd of desert elephants in Mali is being ravaged by one of the worst droughts in living memory, which has left water sources at lowest level in the past quarter of a century.

The 350 to 450 elephants of Gourma, the northernmost herds still alive in Africa, are being forced to trek extreme distances across the fringes of the Sahara to find scarce water. Juveniles are the most affected, as (unlike the bigger bulls) their trunks are not long enough to reach deep into wells - one of the only remaining water sources.

This year the water levels are extremely low in the Gourma region due to uneven rainfall in 2008. The most important of these lakes, Banzena, is the lowest it has been since 1983 when it dried completely.

On the 16th of May, Jake Wall, a scientist with Save the Elephants, returned from Banzena; he found it almost dry. Very few options now exist for finding water and we are witnessing erratic movements further and further afield as they desperately search for water and forage.

Over the last few years, The WILD Foundation and Save the Elephants (STE), in collaboration with the Malian Environment Ministry directorate for conservation - Direction Nationale de la Conservation de la Nature (DNCN), have monitored these last rare desert elephants using 9 collars fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. The collars transmit the hourly positions of the elephants three times daily via satellite link and give real-time information about the activities of the elephant herds.

Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants has been monitoring their range since the mid 1970s. He says: “In the Gourma region of Mali are the last elephants living in the Sahel and they are northernmost in Africa. Their range has shrunk drastically since the 1970’s due to climate change and overstocking of livestock which has degraded the habitat. These elephants have the longest migration route of any in Africa and move in a counterclockwise circle of about 700 km. At the height of the dry season there are only a handful of shallow lakes left to them until recharged by rains in July and August.” Our group of NGOs is launching an emergency appeal to save this unique herd.

Many elephants are now surviving with very limited and hard to access water supplies. At a dry lake bed 50 km to the east of Banzena, 6 bull elephants are surviving by getting on their knees and reaching for water with their trunks that is 3 meters beneath ground level and through a hole dug by the Touareg people. Younger elephants who are not as big or as skilled cannot possibly reach these hard to get at water points. The long distances, high temperatures and weakened condition will also take a heavy toll on the younger elephants.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Current Tonight,   Animal Videos and News,   4 more
  2. tags:
    Africa,  Water,  Drought,  Elephants,  2 more
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27 comments // Last of Africa's desert elephants ravaged by severe drought

  • quanta
    • 0
      quanta  

    • sucker punch, good job on who chose the photo, ya got us all crying, where are the children, if they are going out there to take pictures for god sakes take ALOT of water cause you KNOW they're dying of thirst. Maybe some big corporate entity will donate at least 3 huge water resoirves thru the area okay 4 ,tax write off . build some kind of oasis. seed the clouds. what ever it takes. move the elephants. seems kinda hopeless huh. adapt you elephants grow a hump.

    • 2 years ago
  • telcod
    • 0
      telcod  

    • Seems simple enough. Get the f--king elephants water or be satisfied with a lot of elephant jerky. We over populate and the rest of the planet goes to hell in an (elephant) hand basket. Go Humans.

    • 2 years ago
  • Eri_Soulja
  • GodsnLiberals
    • 0
      GodsnLiberals  

    • what we need to do is bono should have another concert and al gore to make another movie to raise awareness..

      THAT WOULD FIX IT..they been doing that for a long time now..and it works!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • smugglingpornstars
  • EmperorThan
    • 0
      EmperorThan  

    • Why don't the Malians go do something about it?

      Like they have anything else to do, seriously. "My life is so hard, I live in Mali." *cry cry cry*

      Seriously Mali you've about to lose your only yuppy tourist worthy roadside attraction. ...Fuck Timbuktu.

    • 2 years ago
  • smugglingpornstars
  • smugglingpornstars
  • smugglingpornstars
  • smugglingpornstars
  • smugglingpornstars
    • 0
      smugglingpornstars  

    • If you read the 70+ page report on CO2 gases effecting our atmosphere, the last 15 years we've been in a warming trend. Droughts will NOT be getting worse, if you believe that propaghanda you are an idiot. And i certainly believe that hunting and poaching elephants fucking SUCKS but that too is part of natural selection. Get over it!

    • 2 years ago
  • Blkwdw
    • 0
      Blkwdw  

    • Water shortage and drought are going to get worse and in a few years we will see this type of scene everywhere affecting animal life plant life and human life

    • 2 years ago
  • jimenagamio
  • smugglingpornstars
    • 0
      smugglingpornstars  

    • Don't get me wrong here, as I am a lover of the beautiful elephant species...I understand intervening when humans are to blame for the death or near extinction of an animal or species. However, when nature is running its course (ie drought, natural disaster,etc..) and we jump in every time, we are inhibiting natural selection! This goes for EVERY species..including humans. Just LET IT BE!

    • 2 years ago
  • MilchMann
    • 0
      MilchMann  
    • smugglingpornstars:

      Do you not think that them being poched and their reductions in numbers will severely hurt their odds of surviving if this drought kills half of them... yeah... see, it is our fault that this is a problem, in more ways than one I might add.

    • 2 years ago
  • dpixler55
  • neonbunny
  • mycall306
    • 0
      mycall306  

    • africa has been hit by a really bad drought last few years. however, i heard some places will be gettin el nino rains (i.e.alot of rain) soon, so the elephants should be ok soon. now they just have to watch out for poachers. i hate those guyz...

    • 2 years ago
  • good_stuff
    • 0
      good_stuff  

    • A few thoughts:

      1) The rains have already begun, because it is the end of August... Hooray they survived, just like they did in 1983 when the drought was even worse (according to article).

      2) Why can't the mother elephants spray water into the baby's mouth? I've never seen an elephant drink through its trunk and if they are smart enough to use tools and remember forever, then why can't they figure that out. Selfish elephants!

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  

    • Maybe it time to drill some wells for water instead of Oil and gas seems like the least we could do Put up wind mills or solar towers for water pumps.

    • 2 years ago
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • Droughts are predicted to become worse all over the the earth in the coming decades.

      Whether the droughts are totally natural and cyclical or man-made because of pollution is beside the point.

      What are we going to do when WE are hit by extreme droughts too?

      There are a whole lotta people living in Arizona and California where there really isn't much water. If we get hit with a severe drought that only last 4-5 years....we could have a serious crisis on our hands.

      If droughts start hitting the entire plant at the same time?

      We might be in for some very rough times.

    • 2 years ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  

    • I've seen stories and documentaries about these desert herds before. This says a lot about climate change. Let's hope that the desert elephants aren't totally eradicated buy these droughts.

    • 2 years ago
  • tiosipper
    • 0
      tiosipper  

    • Water can be found, the problem is that there are limited resources in the area. It sucks because while we worrry an care about the elefants there. People have to find water for themselves, it isn't that people don't care about elefants there, it's just that they have to secure themselves first in order to help others.
      Sad picture.

    • 2 years ago
  • QuestionGeek
  • vistapoint
  • MilchMann
    • 0
      MilchMann  

    • Except for that we could guide them to some water... we can communicate with elephants... marginally, but we do understand a bit of their language.

      We could also install them a make shift cistern... drilling a well and pumping some water into a basin made of plastic sheeting would take all of a few days to complete.

    • 2 years ago
  • tiosipper
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