EWB is a strong and capable organization, but we recognize the vital
role of forming strategic alliances and partnerships with organizations
and individuals who share a common vision and purpose, in order
to reach a shared goal together and to achieve conservation at a
Collaborations allow us to do more than we ever could on our own.
Ecosystems are fragile. Strong partnerships between EWB, non-profit
organizations and other conservation groups are restoring and protecting
wildlife corridors and the ecosystems elephants need to survive.
The following ventures explain EWB’s investments, locally
and regionally, in building alliances and supporting partners in
an effort to find viable solutions and create a healthier world
Savute Channel Elephant Project
In 1982, water in the Savute Channel and Savute Marsh began to
disappear. The gradual draining away of water in the channel was
attributed to lower flood levels, which come from the north. Other
reasons for lower water levels were in turn attributed to lower
rainfall, tectonic shift and blockages further up the Kwando River.
Soon the Savute Channel was dry. In an effort to bring relief to
wildlife living in the region the Botswana Department of Wildlife
and National Parks (DWNP) drilled five boreholes to augment water
by pumping artificial water points in the heart of the Chobe National
Park. Since then, a known attraction of Savute has been its artificial
waterholes and big elephant tuskers who seek refuge around these
water points during the hot dry season.
In May 2009, the Savute Channel started to flow again and by January
2010, water was entering the Savute Marsh. The Linyanti Swamps feed
the Savute Channel which meanders in an easterly direction for some
100km until it reaches the Savute Marsh. The full channel now acts
as a giant water trough running through the arid sands of Botswana's
northern Kalahari. Elephants now make use of this river along its
entire length, from the Zibadianja Lagoon in the west to the Savute
Marsh, feeding on the surrounding vegetation as they move.
The DWNP has therefore stopped providing water via the artificial
waterholes due to the abundance of fresh water in the channel. This
study will investigate the effects of the recent flow and availability
of water in the Savute Channel on elephant movements in the region.
With support received from the Wilderness Wildlife Trust, we deployed
satellite collars on elephants along the Savute Channel. This long-term
movement study will provide important information on the spatial
ecology of elephants in this dynamic system. In this study we aim
to: Determine the influence of water availability in the Savute
Channel on the seasonal home ranges, distribution and movements
of collared elephants; Compare the home ranges and seasonal movements
of elephants when the Savute Channel was dry; and Compare the movements
of elephants along the Savute Channel with those collared along
the Boteti River, which has also recently started flowing again
after many dry years.
To read more about EWB’s elephant tracking programs: Tracking
Okavango Panhandle Surveys
The Okavango Panhandle is the worst human-elephant conflict (HEC)
area in Botswana. In this troublesome conflict zone, elephants are
trapped by the Caprivi border fence and northern buffalo fence.
The impenetrable floodplains of the Okavango River restrict elephants
moving west out of the region. Within this 8500sq km area, the only
permanent water is in the Okavango River, where many settlements
are located. During the dry season, elephant herds run a daily gauntlet
through settlements to reach water in the Okavango River. How many
elephant are trapped in this region? What is the population growth
rate? What management options are there to help relieve this compression?
To help answer these pertinent questions EWB collaborated with Anna
Songhurst, a PhD student from the University of Botswana and Imperial
College, London who is studying HEC. Together we flew 2 aerial surveys.
The first survey, conducted in August 2008, yielded an estimate
of 9000 elephants trapped in the Okavango triangle. In July 2010,
the second survey was conducted and the survey results are now being
EWB suggests that corridors be created to allow elephant to move
out of this region. Corridors must be created along wildlife migration
paths that meet up with the fence. Creating small gaps or openings
in the fence will allow elephants to move into the Caprivi and Angola
where elephant densities are low and relieve HEC along the Okavango
To read more about EWB’s wildlife aerial survey counts: Surveys
Reintroduction of Habituated Elephants into
EWB is collaborating with Roger and Jessica Parry from Wild Horizons
Wildlife Trust (WHWT) to reintroduce and monitor previously habituated
elephants back into the wild.
The first reintroduction occurred in 2008, when an adult elephant
bull, named Damiano,
was collared with a satellite collar and released from the Wild
Horizons facility, just southeast of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Presently,
the two organizations have been successfully monitoring Damiano
over the course of two years, continually downloading and mapping
his movements, while conducting visual ground checks, to ensure
his safety and successful reintroduction. Largely due to Damiano’s
successful release, in July 2010, EWB and WHWT fitted two more satellite
collars on two other bull elephants, Jack and Rastus, to monitor
their reintroduction and movements. The bulls were transported and
released in Hwange NP, Zimbabwe.
This important project will shed some critical information on the
reintroduction of elephants back into their wild habitat. Through
this strong partnership, we aim to provide other projects with guidance
on how to conduct successful elephant releases and information on
how the elephants have adapted to their releases. We look forward
to sharing the lessons we have learned about these three elephant
reintroductions through a detailed publication.
Post Monitoring of Released Elephant,
Elephants Without Borders is proud to be part of the post-monitoring
team for Mary, the largest female in a herd of 9 elephants, that
were once captured and found to be mistreated. The Zimbabwe SPCA
(ZNSPCA) approached the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources,
Honourable Minister Nhema, and officials from the Ministry of Environment
and Natural Resources and National Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority (NPWMA) to discuss the dilemma of the elephants. It was
agreed that the captive elephants would be trans-located and released
back into the wild. The elephants were released in Hwange National
Park in Zimbabwe on Nov 3 2009. Mary was fitted with a satellite
collar to monitor the herd.
To view or download the media release written by Glynis Vaughan
building alliances in an effort to find viable solutions…”