Evidence Of Strong Spatial Segregation Between Elephant Subpopulations In The Contiguous Laikipia–samburu Ecosystem In Kenya (2016)

Connectivity within populations affects important ecological and evolutionary processes like gene flow, disease dynamics, and cultural exchange (Noad et al., 2000; McCallum & Dobson, 2002; Epps et al., 2005). Understanding connectivity is especially relevant in the context of conservation as landscape-level changes may alter wildlife movement. Such changes disproportionately affect wideranging species (Seidler et al., 2015), and those whose movement corridors are not protected (Didier et al., 2011). However, assessing connectivity across and within populations is difficult given the ephemeral and often cryptic nature of dispersal. Comparative, long-term data sets of known individuals can provide critical information and insights for wildlife managers and policymakers to determine whether and how subpopulations are connected. The Laikipia–Samburu elephant (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach) population is the second largest in Kenya with approximately 7415 individuals, primarily relying on range outside of governmentally protected areas (Poole et al., 1992; Litoroh et al., 2010). The 34,000 km2 Laikipia–Samburu ecosystem is a complex land use mosaic comprised of private, government and community lands (Thouless, 1995), which represent varying levels of risk to the region’s elephants (Ihwagi et al., 2015). The region is undergoing large-scale development projects (LAPSSET)