The Status Of Kenya’s Elephants 1990–2002. (2002)

The 1990s have been the first years since the 1960s that Kenya’s elephants have not substantially declined in numbers. Major savannah populations such as Tsavo, Laikipia–Samburu and Amboseli have increased significantly; others such as Mara and Meru have remained stable. Status of forest populations surveyed using dung counts is little known. Given the low confidence in such estimates, other indicators of population trends are employed. Forest area has declined, particularly in the major elephant ranges of Mt Kenya, the Aberdares and the Mau complex, as forests have been converted to farmland. There is no evidence that forest populations were affected by massive poaching of savannah-living elephants in the 1970s and 1980s. Density of most forest populations appear to be moderately high (more than 1 elephant per km2) and thus are unlikely to increase substantially.