Identifying the Effects of Social Disruption through Translocation on African Elephants (Loxodonta africana), with Specifics on the Social and Ecological Impacts of Orphaning.

ABSTRACT: African elephants (Loxodonta africana) exhibit a long developmental period during which they acquire complex social and ecological knowledge through social networks. Central to this is that matriarchs and older individuals play an important role as repositories of information gained through experience. Anthropogenic interventions-including poaching, culling, translocation, and hunting-can disrupt elephants' social networks, with implications for individual fitness and potential long-term population viability. Here, we draw on a unique long-running, individual-based dataset to examine the impacts of translocation on a population of elephants in South Africa, taking into consideration demographic rates, social dynamics, and ecological decision-making. Specifically, we compared two tra

SUBMITTER: Garai ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9913331 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature