Table 1. The number of elephant carcasses recorded from 2002 to 2012, their cause of mortality and the average number of live elephants recorded within different land use types in the Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem.
Notes: HEC refers to elephant mortality resulting from human elephant conflict incidences. PAC refers to problem animal control, i.e., elephant mortality as a result of killing of problematic elephants by authorised personnel. The proportionate cause of mortality within each land use type is indicated in brackets. The live elephants refers to the average number recorded within land under each use type in the years 2002, 2008 and 2012.
| Land use | Area (km2) | Live elephants | Causes of elephant mortality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEC | Natural | PAC | Poached | Unknown | |||
| Settlement and farming | 5,707 | 73 | 14(12%) | 29(25%) | 27(23%) | 30(26%) | 16(14%) |
| Ranches | 4,418 | 2652 | 43(7%) | 235(37%) | 39(6%) | 220(34%) | 103(16%) |
| Forest reserves | 3,299 | 407 | 55(14%) | 95(25%) | 13(3%) | 154(40%) | 64(17%) |
| National reserves | 533 | 602 | 2(1%) | 80(56%) | 2(1%) | 41(28%) | 19(13%) |
| Community conservation | 11,457 | 1872 | 82(10%) | 259(33%) | 8(1%) | 308(39%) | 139(17%) |
| Community pastoralism | 8,403 | 785 | 41(13%) | 84(26%) | 6(2%) | 125(38%) | 70(21%) |