How important are forest elephants to ecology/conservation?
Dr. ML: Forest elephants are very important in forest ecology. They act as primary seed dispersers. Some species of forest trees rely completely on elephants for seed dispersal. Seeds of some species of plants will not germinate unless they pass through the gastrointestinal tract of the elephant. Elephants are also engineers of the forest. They produce and maintain forest clearings and create trails that other species of animals and humans use. Are elephants only protected when they are tagged? Dr. ML: Actually, we do not tag individual elephants to protect them. We are looking at elephant populations instead of individuals. Tagging is a tool we use to answer questions of elephant land use patterns, migration patterns, corridors and home ranges. These data can then be used in developing overall land use plans, such as the creation of new protected areas or the designation of land use by humans. Conflict between humans and elephants can hopefully be kept at a minimum by considering the
