The Elephant Population Of The Samburu And Buffalo Springs National Reserves, Kenya. (2001)

A 21-month individual identification project on the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves’ elephant population was conducted between November 1997 and July 1999. The free ranging population, of at least 767 elephants, which relied heavily on areas outside the reserves, was individually identified. The numbers of elephants observed per day fluctuated but were greater during dry periods then wet. However, the sizes of aggregations were greater during wet periods. Preliminary investigation suggested that the population could be divided into two groups, which were designated resident and non-resident family units. The groups comprised approximately equal numbers of cows and calves, but temporally had di¡erent reserve use patterns and calving peaks. The daily numbers of males and musth males were correlated with numbers of females.