The influence of lunar cycles on crop-raiding elephants; evidence for risk avoidance

African Journal of Ecology

Volumn 52, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 129-137

  Gunn, Jody ^a   Hawkins, Dawn ^b   Barnes, Richard F W ^c   Mofulu, Fredrick ^b,d   Grant, Rachel A ^b   Norton, Guy W ^b  

^a Parks and Wildlife Service Northern Territory   (Australia)

^b ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^d Tanzania National Parks   (Tanzania)

Author keywords

Behavioural ecology; Crop raiding; Elephants; Human elephant conflict; Lunar cycle; Moon phase

Indexed keywords

BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY; ELEPHANT; HABITAT CONSERVATION; HUMAN ACTIVITY; LUNAR CYCLE; MITIGATION; RISK ASSESSMENT; VISIBILITY;

MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK; MOROGORO [TANZANIA]; TANZANIA;

ELEPHANTIDAE; LOXODONTA AFRICANA;

EID: 84898044256     PISSN: 01416707     EISSN: 13652028     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/aje.12091     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. Barnes, R.F.W. (2002) Treating crop-raiding elephants with aspirin. Pachyderm 33, 96-99.
2. Barnes, R.F.W., Dubiure, U.F., Danquah, E., Boafo, Y., Nandjui, A., Hema, E.M. & Manford, M. (2006) Crop-raiding elephants and the moon. Afr. J. Ecol. 45, 112-115.
3. Batschelet, E. (1981) Circular Statistics in Biology. Academic Press, London.
4. Beltran, J.F. & Delibes, M. (1994) Environmental determinants of circadian activity of free-ranging Iberian Lynxes. J. Mammal. 75, 382-393.
5. Blanc, J.J., Thouless, C.R., Hart, J.A., Dublin, H.T., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Craig, G.C. & Barnes, R.F.W. (2003) African Elephant Status Report 2002: An Update from the African Elephant Database. 29. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.
6. de Boer, W.F., Ntumi, C.P., Correia, A.U. & Mafuca, J.M. (2000) Diet and distribution of elephant in the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique. Afr. J. Ecol. 38, 188-201.
7. de Bruyn, A.M.H. & Meeuwig, J.J. (2001) Detecting lunar cycles in marine ecology: periodic regression versus categorical ANOVA. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 214, 307-310.
8. Cozzi, G., Broekhuis, F., McNutt, J.W., Turnbull, L.A., Macdonald, D.W. & Schmid, B. (2012) Fear of the dark or dinner by moonlight? Reduced temporal partitioning among Africa's large carnivores. Ecology 93, 2590-2599.
9. Dixon, D.R., Dixon, L.R.J., Bishop, J.D. & Pettifor, R.A. (2006) Lunar-related reproductive behaviour in the badger (Meles meles). Acta Ethol. 9, 59-63.
10. Donati, G., Bollen, A., Borgognini-Tarli, S.M. & Ganzhorn, J.U. (2007) Feeding over the 24-h cycle: dietary flexibility of cathemeral collared lemurs (Eulemur collaris). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 61, 1237-1251.
11. Douglas-Hamilton, I. (1987) African elephants: population trends and their causes. Oryx 21, 11-21.
12. Espenak, F. (2007) NASA Eclipse Website. Phases of the Moon: 2001-2010. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available at: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phases2001.html (accessed on 15 November 2007).
13. Graham, M.D., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Adams, W.M. & Lee, P.C. (2009) The movement of African elephants in a human-dominated land-use mosaic. Anim. Conserv. 12, 445-455.
14. Grant, R.A., Chadwick, E.A. & Halliday, T. (2009) The Lunar cycle: a cue for amphibian reproductive phenology. Anim. Behav. 78, 349-357.
15. Grant, R.A., Halliday, T. & Chadwick, E.A. (2013) Amphibians and the lunar cycle; a review of current knowledge, recommendations and implications for conservation. Behav. Ecology 24, 53-62.
16. Gunn, J. (2009) Human-Elephant Conflict around Mikumi National Park, Tanzania: A Quantitative Evaluation. PhD. Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
17. Hill, R.A., Barrett, L., Gaynor, D., Weingrill, T., Dixon, P., Payne, H. & Henzi, S.P. (2003) Day length, latitude and behavioural (in)flexibility in baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 53, 278-286.
18. Hillman-Smith, A.K.K., de Merode, E., Nicholas, A., Buls, B. & Ndey, A. (1995) Factors affecting elephant distribution at Garamba National Park and surrounding reserves, Zaire, with a focus on human-elephant conflict. Pachyderm 19, 39-48.
19. Hoare, R.E. (1999a) Data Collection and Analysis Protocol for Human-Elephant Conflict Situations in Africa. IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group's Human-Elephant Conflict Working Group.
20. Hoare, R.E. (1999b) Determinants of human-elephant conflict in a land-use mosaic. J. Appl. Ecol. 36, 689-700.
21. Hoare, R.E. (1999c) A Training Package for Enumerators of Elephant Damage. IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group Report.
22. Lang, A.B., Kalko, E.K.V., Romer, H., Bockholdt, C. & Dechmann, D.K.N. (2006) Activity levels of bats and katydids in relation to the lunar cycle. Oecologia 146, 659-666.
23. Linkie, M., Dinata, Y., Nofrianto, A. & Leader-Williams, N. (2007) Patterns and perceptions of wildlife crop raiding in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. Anim. Conserv. 10, 127-135.
24. Mduma, S., Lobora, A., Foley, C.L. & Jones, T. (eds.) (2011) Tanzania National Elephant Management Plan 2010-2015. Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Tanzania, pp. 104.
25. Naughton, L., Rose, R. & Treves, A. (1999) The Social Dimensions of Human-Elephant Conflict in Africa: A Literature Review and Case Studies from Uganda and Cameroon. A Report to the African Elephant Specialist Group, Human-Elephant Conflict Task Force. IUCN, Glands, Switzerland.
26. Naughton-Treves, L. (1998) Predicting patterns of crop damage by wildlife around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conserv. Biol. 12, 156-168.
27. Norton, G.W. (1994) Rainfall in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania: Part 1 Monthly and Annual Patterns (1964-1993). Animal Behaviour Research Unit, Tanzania. Special report to TANAPA and TAWIRI.
28. Nyhus, P.J. & Sumianto, T.R. (2000) Crop-raiding elephants and conservation implications at Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Oryx 34, 262-274.
29. Power, R.J. & Compion, R.X.S. (2009) Lion predation on elephants in the Savuti, Chobe national Park, Botwana. Afr. Zool. 44, 36-44.
30. Sabato, M.A.L., Bandeira de Melo, L.F., Vaz Magni, E.M., Young, R.J. & Coelho, C.M. (2006) A note on the effect of the full moon on the activity of wild maned wolves, Chrysocyon brachyurus. Behav. Processes 73, 228-230.
31. Shoshani, J., Hagos, Y., Yacob, B.Y., Ghebrehiwet, M. & Kebrom, E. (2004) Elephants (Loxodonta africana) of Zoba gash Barka, Eritrea: part 2. Numbers and distribution, ecology and behaviour and fauna and flora in their ecosystem. Pachyderm 36, 52-68.
32. Sitati, N.W., Walpole, M.J., Smith, R.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2003) Predicting spatial aspects of human-elephant conflict. J. Appl. Ecol. 40, 667-677.
33. Tchamba, M.N. (1996) History and present status of the human/elephant conflict in the Waza-Logone region, Cameroon, West Africa. Biol. Conserv. 75, 35-41.