As the entire globe marks the world’s elephant day, Tanzania, which is now home to over 60,000 such jumbos, is stepping up more efforts to protect this keystone giant wildlife species.
Elephant numbers in the country are growing rapidly, thanks to collaborative efforts between the government, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the tourism industry, other partners and local communities.
Among the initiatives, according to the Natural Resources Management Policy Lead of the USAID Preserve Natural Resources Project, Allen Chad Mgaza, include ongoing efforts to restore habitats and secure wildlife corridors.
At the National level there has been a series of training for members of the judiciary, including the police, prosecutors, magistrate and judges regarding the handling of Community Wildlife Conservation (CWC) cases, including illegal trade of elephant products such as ivory.
Awareness training sessions have also been provided to the private sector entities on identifying and reporting illegal wildlife crime.
The training included people in the financial, logistics, aviation, transport, banks and telecommunication companies.
Other activities include conservation awareness programs to educate communities on how-to live-in harmony with elephants in the Kilombero and Ruaha-Rungwa and Inyonga-Katavi ecosystems and Elephant collaring to monitor their movements.
That aligns with the World Elephant Day 2024 theme of ‘Personifying prehistoric beauty, theological relevance and environmental importance,’ highlighting the importance of preserving natural habitats to ensure the survival of the jumbos.
Over the past five years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), spent over USD 50 million to combat wildlife trafficking and support the improved management of Tanzania’s natural resources, including the protection of Jumbos.
This work is an example of how USAID is working with various groups to plan land use, protect important wildlife areas, and reduce conflicts between humans and animals.
Live Beehive fencing and the training of Village Game Scouts and interagency patrolling have been helpful to mitigate cases of human elephant conflicts and as a result the Jumbos’ population in the country is on the rebound.
Kilombero Elephant Corridor with its iconic elephant underpass is among the recent achievements undertaken through the Southern Tanzania Elephant Program (STEP), as far as Tanzania’s Jumbos protection is concerned.
Elephants regularly attempt to cross the short distance of about 10 kilometers across the Kilombero Valley, between the Udzungwa Mountains National Park and Magombera Nature Reserve on the edge of the Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous Game Reserve).
The newly built, first fenced corridor now helps to direct wildlife between the two parks.
The Director General of Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Dr Eblate Mjingo recently tabled the country’s latest wildlife census findings in Arusha where it was revealed that the number of elephants in the country has reached 60,000 with half of the number grazing in the Southern Circuit.
The figure makes Tanzania rank third in Africa after Botswana, which has 130,000 elephants and Zimbabwe with 100,000 Jumbos. Kenya takes the fourth position with 35,000 elephants
Both the ‘World Population Review’ and ‘Our World Data,’ estimate that there could be 450,000 elephants left in the world by 2024 and most of them are roaming on the African continent.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) documents 415,000 elephants roaming the globe and among them there are 50,000 Asian Jumbos.
Ivory Trade, habitat loss and Human-Wildlife Conflicts have been taking a toll on these biggest land mammals.
Two years ago, the African Wildlife Foundation ran an online poll to find out which type of animal species that tourists prefer to see during their game drives in the park and many of the responses voted for the elephant.
But Allen Chad Mgaza of USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili says there is more to Elephants than just their importance in the tourism industry.
“These are a keystone species, meaning other animals depend on them for survival and protection,” stated Mgaza explaining that the Jumbos usually help to forge ways for other animals in thick shrubs therefore creating passage routes to greener pastures or water sources.
They also help to dig or scoop water for other species, shake trees to enable fruits and branches to precipitate onto the grounds for other creatures to salvage for food.
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