Protecting Big Trees – and a new scientific paper

Elephants Alive is running a number of workshops on “Protecting Trees against Elephant Impact” for landowners, reserve wardens and managers. Thornybush hosted a workshop, and presentations have also been given at the Tuskers Workshop in January 2019, and the South African Veterinary Association conference in March 2019.
Dr Michelle Henley outlines the vital inter-links between elephants and big trees and Robin Cook summarises the potential measures to protect iconic trees – including wire netting, bee hives and the research currently underway using chilli spray as a deterrent.

We’ve received great feedback and will be hosting future big tree protection workshops for interested parties.

Thank you to Tom Coetzee for organising the workshop and Andy Payne for hosting it at Waterside Lodge,  Thornybush.
In February 2019, Elephants Alive’s latest scientific paper titled ‘Complexities associated with elephant impact on Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra in the Greater Kruger National Park’ was published in the scientific journal South African Journal of Botany. This paper explores how the combinations of elephant impact, termite presence, and road and water densities can influence marula tree mortality. Details of this paper are available at this link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2019.01.016