GPS telemetry of forest elephants in Central Africa: results of a preliminary study

Few data exist on the ranging behaviour of forest elephants. A feasibility study on the use of GPS telemetry as a tool to study ranging, seasonal movements and distribution was implemented in the Dzanga-Sangha and Nouabale-Ndoki National Parks Complex of Central African Republic and Congo. The study consisted of two parts-a thorough hand-held testing of an elephant GPS telemetry collar under tropical forest conditions and the deployment of collars on two elephants. During the feasibility study the system performance was satisfactory; GPS fix acquisition success rate, VHF and UHF collar-researcher communications were adequate. Two elephants, a mature bull and an adult female, were immobilized and fitted with GPS collars in October 1998. After deployment, the female's GPS collar performed well initially, but in less than a month the GPS within the collar stopped acquiring fixes. She was subsequently located using VHF tracking. The male was never relocated strongly suggesting complete failure of the collar. Despite these setbacks, the small amount of data retrieved provide an important first insight into forest elephant ranging and daily activity patterns, with significant conservation implications. When technical difficulties of reliability are overcome, GPS telemetry will provide an exceptionally useful tool in forest elephant research and management.