Conservationists have called for a halt to trophy hunting of elephants from Kenya’s Amboseli National Park that cross over into neighboring Tanzania, following the killing of at least five males with unusually large tusks by hunters in Tanzania. Trophy hunting is legal in Tanzania but not in Kenya. Under what conservationists described as a “gentleman’s agreement,” hunters have left Amboseli elephants along the Kenya-Tanzania border alone — until now. The arrangement was a recognition of the importance of this population of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana), which are severely threatened and in decline. The 51-year Amboseli Elephant Research Project is the “longest study of elephants in the world,” making Amboseli’s elephants some of the world’s best-known elephants, widely photographed by tourists and intimately known by scientists. For Cynthia Moss, who heads the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, and Joyce Poole, co-founder and co-director of the nonprofit ElephantVoices, the killings struck a personal note. Both launched into their scientific careers studying this population nearly five decades ago. Scientists have names for most of the 2,000 elephants from 69 families here, many of whom were born and grew up under their watchful eyes. Amboseli icons Tim and Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park 2016, Kenya. Image courtesy ElephantVoices. Vital insights into elephant behavior and their social lives have emerged from the project, including a recent finding that they appear to call each other by names. Elephant populations have suffered precipitous declines in Africa due to poaching, habitat loss and human conflicts. However, removing large bulls…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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