Around 16,000 elephants live in the Ruaha area in southern Tanzania, which STEP monitors. This is the largest elephant population in East Africa! The region is home to 35% of East African elephants and 7% of African elephants.

The Ruaha elephant monitoring team has been working hard over the past few months to sight and identify as many elephants as possible using the elephant ID database.

Last year 2 forest elephant bulls, presumably brothers, migrated the long way from Guinea to Liberia to Ivory Coast. Now the bulls are on the move again and have decided to migrate back to Liberia. Much to the astonishment of the local population, as there is no natural elephant population in this area.

The forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, lives in the tropical areas of Central Africa and West Africa. It is only found in larger numbers in Gabon, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Liberia. Protecting these populations is not only critical to the future of the species in Central and West Africa, but it is also important for the climate.

The African forest elephant is less well known than the savanna elephant in East or South Africa. Ecological and political obstacles and its sometimes inaccessible habitat make it difficult to study and protect. For a long time, forest elephants were not considered a distinct species. But genetic studies show that the forest elephant is distinctly different from its savannah cousin.

Kerstin Bucher from Future for Elephants has been involved with Elephant Aware Masai Mara for many years and visits this project regularly. Over the years a deep friendship has developed with the Cowell family, the founders of the organization and the rangers.

After I could not travel to Kenya in 2020 due to the corona pandemic, I was even more happy to visit Elephant Aware Masai Mara in Siana/Kenya this year, even if unfortunately only for a very short time due to corona.

CHIPEMBELE/"NATURE NIGHTS-PROGRAM"

In the South Luangwa region in Zambia we support the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust (CWET), which runs a youth education project with much love and heart. CWET gives young people hope and wildlife a chance.
The project organizes "Nature Night Camping Trips" supported by Future for Elephants, giving young people the opportunity to learn about the fauna and flora of their homeland while gaining experience and learning skills for their future.

My previous blog about Paul Barton, the man who is playing piano for elephants, has received a big reaction from Paul himself recently, who made two long videos in response. Many viewers were outraged how such an apparently wonderful project like playing piano for elephants could cause such criticism. Some people wondered why Paul made such a huge effort, putting nearly 3 hours of film together in response to a blog text. Others agree that the places where Paul is playing piano are sadly lacking in elephant welfare. So there is a lot to discuss! Hi Paul, hope you are well, this is my response.

Do elephants love Bach? The idea of elephants enjoying classical music somehow appeals to us. The gentle giants are famous for their sensitivity and sophistication, after all. But there is a truly dark side to the many videos circulating in social media, showing how the British pianist Paul Barton plays well-known classical pieces for elephants. What is happening there is unfortunately not musical therapy for traumatised pachyderms as the videos suggest, but a nasty commercial stunt – and, above all, plain abuse.

At the start of a new year we ponder what happened in the previous year, and what the new year will have in store. Which developments concerning elephants did we see in 2017, and how do they influence their chance of survival?