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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Elevated levels of stress hormones in crop-raiding male elephants
Animal Conservation, Volume 14, No. 2, Year 2011
Notification
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Description
Crop raiding is one of the most common forms of human-elephant conflict. Deterring elephants from raiding crops requires an understanding of the factors influencing the behavior of the individuals involved. We collected fecal samples from five group ranches in southern Kenya where crop-raiding incidents had occurred (n=10) and two protected areas, Amboseli National Park (n=24) and Maasai Mara National Reserve (n=20). We used molecular sexing to sex the individuals and radioimmunoassay kits to determine the level of glucocorticoid metabolites (i.e. stress hormones) in their dung. All crop-raiding individuals were male and had a significantly elevated concentration of glucocorticoid metabolites as compared with the Amboseli elephants (W=12, P=0.0005). We detected no significant difference between Maasai Mara elephants and either Amboseli or the crop-raiding elephants when just males were compared. Our results suggest that crop raiding may be related to stress in elephants. © 2010 The Authors. Animal Conservation © 2010 The Zoological Society of London.
Authors & Co-Authors
Ahlering, Marissa A.
United States, Columbia
University of Missouri
Millspaugh, Joshua J.
United States, Columbia
University of Missouri
Woods, Rami J.
United States, Columbia
University of Missouri
Western, David J.
Kenya, Nairobi
African Conservation Centre
Eggert, Lori S.
United States, Columbia
University of Missouri
Statistics
Citations: 52
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00400.x
e-ISSN:
14691795
Study Locations
Kenya
Participants Gender
Male