Research on elephant populations increasingly illustrates the complex ways they communicate and, consequently, their intelligence. But we have only scratched the surface. The type of work required to figure out the nuances of elephant communication would force researchers to get extremely close to the elephants, Douglas-Hamilton says, which could put the humans at risk.
Studying elephants in general poses a number of other challenges. Researchers want to maintain harmony between the elephants and human communities living near them, to create a ready environment to study the animals.
Elephant researchers and advocates hope that as technology and our understanding of these pachyderms develops, challenges will dissipate. I feel certain that elephants have a specific call to refer to our species—and likely several different calls to communicate to one another whether the specific humans represent a threat or not. In the meantime, current observations still offer incredible insight: In times of heavy poaching, elephants appear to gravitate towards safe havens and hunker down.
And even after the threat is gone, it can still take a generation or two for elephants to relax and move beyond the boundaries of these safe spaces. By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. Skip to navigation Skip to content. Discover Membership. Editions Quartz. The elephants follow the matriarch along an old route to some wild mango trees, a path they remember from before the lodge was built.
Anabezi Luxury Tented Camp lies beneath a canopy of Ana trees, on a floodplain where the Zambezi and Mushika rivers meet. Elephants love to feed on the pods that drop from the Ana trees and you can watch all the action from the private deck of your luxury tent.
An array of wildlife congregate around the floodplain including buffalo, baboons, impala and leopards. Musekese Camp in Kafue National Park allows you to get up close with these beautiful creatures from their elevated treehouse hide. Elephants regularly walk beneath the raised platform, making for a breathtaking view. Here, large herds of elephants gather, along with wildebeest, buffalo, hippo, zebra, lion, hyena and incredible birdlife.
Namibia is home to a distinctive population of desert elephants, found only in Mali and northern Namibia. Although they are not considered a subspecies, these elephants have adapted to survive in the harsh, arid conditions of the desert with very little water. They drink water every three to four days, compared to typical African Elephants which drink up to litres of water a day.
Known to migrate for up to kilometres in search of food and water, they have larger feet that allows them to walk more easily across the desert sand. Historically, the elephants migrated from the Kunene River on the Angolan border to Hoarusib River, however that route was destroyed due to the Angolan Civil War and the rampant poaching at the end of the war. It is hoped that with the end of conflict and the establishment of conservation initiatives, the elephants can rediscover their lost pathway.
Located along the elephant migratory routes, Nambwa Tented Lodge allows you to watch elephants passing beneath your luxury tented camp nestled in the treetops. The lodge is situated in the remote Caprivi strip near the borders of Zimbabwe, Botswana and Angola, where hundreds of wildlife species gather.
You can observe elephants, zebra, buffalo and ostriches wandering the floodplains of the Bwabwata National Park, and elephants are known to seek shelter under the lodge at night - so you may even get to sleep with an elephant! Nkasa Lupala is set within the untamed wilderness of Namibia, near the wetlands and lakes of the Nkasa Rupara National Park. A myriad of animals are drawn to the water, and you can watch elephants from your veranda, along with hippos and lions. Camp Kipwe is a unique lodge, designed to camouflage into the natural wilderness.
Set within the Twyfelfontein Conservancy in Damaraland, the camp offers the thrilling opportunity to track the elusive desert elephants through the reserve. We talk to Elephant Nature Park founder Lek about ethical elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai and challenging elephant welfare standards. Our Africa Specialist Thea, answers some frequently asked questions about what you can expect on a typical day on safari in Kenya. An African safari is one of the most thrilling experiences on earth.
Learn how to stay safe with our top safari safety tips. How do you choose the African safari destination that's right for you? Read our in-depth guide to discover where you should go for the best safari. Electric fences are broadly used in mitigating human-animal conflict and to keep elephants away from crop fields, for instance.
He explains that as the elephants wander, the fences need to be swiftly taken down and re-installed in new spots along their path. Shu Chen of the London Zoological Society believes these elephants have simply gone too far to walk miles again to return to Xishuangbanna, the nature reserve they originated from, even with assistance.
Some experts in China, including Zhang Jinshuo, a specialist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have told state news that the possibility of tranquilizing the elephants with anesthesia and then transporting them back to Xishuangbanna is an option under consideration.
It is not without precedent: in , Yunnan authorities captured a male elephant, who caused extensive damage after wandering into villages, by darting him and then transporting him back to his habitat.
In South Africa, he says, mass translocations of elephants have been undertaken. The current efforts—food baiting and fencing—are all short-term, Shu Chen says, with the single goal of preventing wildlife-human conflict.
For many, however, the real question is how to create a sustainable long-term solution for the elephants. Zhou believes the best solution would be to create a new national elephant park close to Kunming, where the group is now. He stresses the importance of building ecological corridors connecting the existing four elephant nature reserves in Yunnan, allowing the animals to migrate easily and safely.
Sukumar agrees. Drawing from experience in India, Sukumar suggests the authorities try to lure the elephants into a small holding area where they would have food and security while experts search for a new habitat nearby. Having reported from over 20 countries, Shawn now splits his time between the Middle East and China, and is particularly interested in human rights and environment.
He speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, and English. The National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, has funded Explorer Shawn Yuan's work. All rights reserved.
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