title: Using Poaching Levels and Elephant Distribution to Assess the Conservation Efficacy of Private, Communal and Government Land in Northern Kenya.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands; Save the Elephants, P.O. Box 54667-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Festus W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Ihwagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tiejun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Save the Elephants, P.O. Box 54667-00200, Nairobi, Kenya; Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado, 80523-1474, United States of America.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wittemyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Skidmore
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albertus G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Toxopeus
authors.affiliation: Kenya Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 40241-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Shadrack
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ngene
authors.affiliation: Northern Rangelands Trust, Private Bag-60300, Isiolo, Kenya.
authors.forename: Juliet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Northern Rangelands Trust, Private Bag-60300, Isiolo, Kenya.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Worden
authors.affiliation: Kenya Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 40241-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Omondi
authors.affiliation: Save the Elephants, P.O. Box 54667-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Douglas-Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003710:Demography; D004606:Elephants; D006078:Government Programs; D007630:Kenya; D015397:Program Evaluation