Human-Elephant Conflict Solved in the Pajane Community

You might remember our recent post about the Human-Elephant conflict situation? A few weeks ago in southern Mozambique, a group of 8 elephants destroyed precious crops from multiple families, leaving the land near bare. After the first visit, we kept close contact with community leaders. This is so we are able to react quickly and efficiently, in case the animals came back for crops.

The STS Mozambique vet was called. The previous night a group of 12 elephants destroyed 2 hectares and agricultural fields. The precious crops are the only food source that 3 families had. Everything was gone in less than 2 hours. Many other sustenance farmers gathered at the destroyed fields in fear for their own crops. A group of ladies set camp by the machambas (local name for agricultural field) armed with pots and pans to scare the elephants away.

STS has been working with several partners in Mozambique to address this serious issue. It deeply affects people’s lives and also damages the reputation of elephants at a local and institutional level. Therefore, it will in turn make elephant conservation over large interconnected landscapes a very hard sell.

How Future Damage Has Been Prevented

First of all, our approach to this specific and serious situation will be to translocate all the elephants in the Panjane community. They will be moved to a safe and secure protected area, ensuring both humans and elephants are safe.

The first critical step to get this in motion was to deploy a satellite collar in the elephants. This is to be able to get to know their movements. Therefore, we can assess the terrain in order to plan for the capture and translocation operation. A few community members and PPF‘s anti-poaching helicopter helped. As a result, the animals were located and the collar deployed in no time.

In addition to the above, this collar is now being used to warn the community leaders in case the elephants get closer then 5 km from the machambas. Our partners at elephants alive have created a virtual fence for the collar that sends STS an e-mail every time the elephant crosses that virtual line.

Finally, we would like to thank our partners who have helped with the outcome in this operation. This important work is only possible because YOU support it! Please donate now.