Elephants rest more when the poaching risk is high and do not recover the lost time within a diel cycle

Poaching for ivory disrupts elephant behavior, yet the extent remains unclear. Tracking 10 elephants in Kenya’s Samburu ecosystem (2002–2016), we found they reduced midday movement in high-risk areas, losing an hour of daily activity. This shift may impact foraging, reproduction, and social dynamics, highlighting the need for finer-scale risk analyses.