SANParks confirms the presence of one elephant in the Knysna forest does not mean the others are not there. It is suspected there are between 1 and 5 elephants. The location of their whereabouts cannot be disclosed.
SANParks' monitoring techniques used currently, are non-intrusive to the elephants and involve gathering data on elephant signs, for example dung circumference measurements, notes on feeding signs and dung sample taking for elephant hormone studies. The hormone studies are aimed at determining the reproductive potential of individuals in the group as well as assessing the level of stress hormones released when the elephants move through certain areas.
The estimated 1,000 elephants that historically roamed the Outeniqua-Tsitsikamma area, most certainly played an ecological role. Data on and, therefore, an understanding of the ecological role of elephants and their potential impact on biodiversity in the Southern Cape is sparse, and the few scientific studies that were conducted, took place after the elephants were confined to the forest habitat.
It is believed that the historical Southern Cape elephant population’s range was confined to the forest parts around Knysna as a result of human settlement and agricultural development. The Knysna elephants may, therefore, have been cut off from other habitat types that they historically visited over a century ago. The absence of elephants in these habitats today may carry negative consequences for the elephants’ forage needs and for biodiversity.
A popular belief that the Knysna elephants are genetically unique was challenged by recent studies showing that these elephants once belonged to a larger, continuous southern African population, of the same sub-species as the African elephant, Loxodonta Africana. These elephants’ genetic uniqueness, or rather lack thereof, has been used by some as a measurement of their conservation value. Basing elephants’ conservation value on their genetic status alone, however, ignores their potential role as an ecological role player.
Elephants are a ‘keystone species’, essential for the integrity of the ecosystem. Elephants affect ecological processes through their feeding, digging and movement, and contribute to biodiversity by dispersing seeds, opening thickets, making browse more available to smaller herbivores, making water accessible in dry river beds, and promoting nutrient re-cycling.
