Elephants Alive
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Elephants Alive's mission is ''To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats''
Elephants Alive
For 20 years, Elephants Alive has been studying the elephants that live in the Greater Kruger Area (including the Association of Private Nature Reserves (APNR) and Kruger National Park), as well as monitoring movements of 80 radio-collared elephants throughout the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (South Africa, Mocambique and Zimbabwe).
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Elephants Alive's mission is ''To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats''
Elephants Alive
For 20 years, Elephants Alive has been studying the elephants that live in the Greater Kruger Area (including the Association of Private Nature Reserves (APNR) and Kruger National Park), as well as monitoring movements of 80 radio-collared elephants throughout the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (South Africa, Mocambique and Zimbabwe).
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Meet the Team
Dr Michelle Henley – Co-Founder & CEO
Michelle has been studying elephants for more than 20 years. In 2003 Michelle co-founded the Transboundary Elephant Research Program, together with Chair Marlene McCay, as the South African branch of Save the Elephants – which later became Elephants Alive. She has published numerous articles in in peer-reviewed scientific journals, popular publications and written and illustrated children’s books on elephant conservation. Michelle is a registered Post-doctoral Fellow at the Applied Behavioural Ecology and Environmental Research Unit of the University of South Africa and a Trustee of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group of South Africa. Michelle won The Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA)’s National Award for an Individual (2013), was finalist in the Tusk Conservation Leadership Awards (2016), runner up to the Mail and Guardian, Greening the Future Awards for both the Species and Biodiversity Stewardship categories (2016) and finalist in the Eco Angel Awards (2017). Michelle was elected as one of 10 of the most inspiring women in South Africa by Culture Trip (2017) and was invited by the IUCN to serve as a member of the African Specialist Group (2017).
Jessica Wilmot – Researcher and Operations Manager
After completing her Conservation Ecology honors degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 2013, Jessica’s career started off as a volunteer coordinator, tracking cheetah on a wildlife sanctuary in Namibia. A year later, she moved to Botswana to gain two years’ experience with human-lion conflict projects and project management. Following her passion for elephants, she joined Elephants Alive in 2016 an is now Operations Manager. She is also currently collecting data for her upcoming Master projects on human-wildlife conflict issues in the area and the potential for various mitigation strategies.
Anka Bedetti – Tracking and ID Study Project Manager
Originally form Belgium, Anka started calling South Africa home in 2010 after graduating with an MSc in Population Dynamics where she studied the home ranges of giant elephant shrew in Tanzania. Her career started off as a research intern for Endangered Wildlife Trust working on their wildlife and roadkill project, after which she accepted the position as an elephant research assistant in the Greater Mapungubwe area, allowing her passion for elephant conservation to grow for two years. Thereafter she gained experience as an assistant manager on a game reserve in the Lowveld, finally joining Elephants Alive in 2016 as the Tracking and ID study Projects Manager.
Ronnie Makulule – Research Assistant and Bee Project Manager
Ronnie has been involved with Elephants Alive since he was a young boy, and his ability to identify known individuals has continued to be an asset to the team. After matriculating in 2012, he studied Environmental Education at Southern African Wildlife College, and then joined the Timbavati Foundation as an Environmental Monitor working with local community schools. After 2 years, Ronnie returned to his roots, joining Elephants Alive in 2016 as a Research Assistant. Ronnie has also become our leading beekeeper, gaining experience and knowledge in bee husbandry. We eagerly await the honey that will be harvested due to his hard work and dedication.
Robin Cook – Researcher (Human-elephant conflict)
Although Robin grew up in Johannesburg, his passion for conservation grew stronger with every family visit to Kruger National Park. With an honours degree in Ecology, he began working with Elephants Alive since 2014 when he started his post-graduate studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Before his return to Elephants Alive as a Researcher, and after recently publishing his MSc, Robin spent three months in Sri Lanka as a project coordinator for the Asian Elephants and Bee Project, allowing his interest in the use of mitigation methods to solve human-elephant conflict to grow.
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Elephants Alive’s Scientific Objectives
To conduct research into how habitat resources, the need for the safety and social presence of other elephants, influence observed patterns in elephant movements.
To understand the abundance, movements and conservation importance of the remaining large tusked bulls within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) and to use these flagship individuals as educational tools to address broader conservation concerns.
Relate elephant occurrence to their effects on the vegetation and infrastructure where elephants and man co-exist.
To determine the level of sensitivity between selected tree-nesting birds and the impact elephant on trees used as nesting sites.
To assess the efficacy of experimental mitigation methods aimed at reducing the effects of elephants in localised areas.
To further our understanding of how elephant mortality rates differ between South Africa and other African range-use states in view of the escalating illegal trade in ivory.
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Scientific Research
Since 1998, Elephants Alive have collared 80 elephants (125 collaring operations), and individually identified nearly 2000 elephants in the Association of Private Nature Reserves (west of Kruger), to map and understand their movements.
This research helps inform managers, conservation bodies and landowners on seasonal movement, effects on vegetation where elephants and man co-exist – and worryingly now also identifying poaching hotspots, thus informing deployment of anti-poaching patrols.
These findings have been critical in allowing SANPARKS more flexibility in their elephant population management programme. It is now accepted that elephants can disperse into adjacent areas and together with the closure of artificial water points which helps control their reproductive output because of the knock on effect to vegetation resources, culling is not needed for the immediate future
Mitigating human:elephant conflict.
Elephants Alive works hard to minimize human: elephant conflict. One of the biggest issues is elephants damaging large trees. Since 2004, 3000+ individual trees have been monitored to understand elephant impact. EA are pioneering an innovative approach using bee hives suspended in trees. The elephants dislike bees and avoid these trees – a win: win solution protecting the tree, generating honey for sale, providing nesting sites for endangered vultures, and mitigating human elephant conflict.
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Community engagement, upliftment and education.
It is EA’s belief that to ensure the long-term preservation of these free-ranging elephants, it is critical to empower, inform and involve local impoverished communities. Elephants Alive are supporting and actively engaging withThe Maseke and Mshishimale rural communities, west of Kruger, in a region where poaching is unfortunately increasing – running education programmes.The Black Mamba all-female anti-poaching patrols, thereby empowering black women, improving community liaison efforts and providing inspirational role models for young learners.Wild Shots Photography Outreach to further their environmental educational outreach into communities to the west of Kruger as well as within the Makuleke Community in the north of the Park.
Programme Director Dr Michelle Henley is also a qualified teacher, giving presentations to schools, community leaders, conservation bodies and coordinating bush school programs with local impoverished children.
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Photo credit by Mike Kendrick
100% of the donations go to our hands on organisation, and every cent counts. We rely solely on donations in order to achieve the research.
Where will the donation be used?
- Collaring a new study animal or replacing a worn-out collar (naming rights given to donor, if new elephant is collared).
- Funding the annual service fees for each collar. The collars allows us track each study-elephant, to check on their associations, vocalizations, genetic relations with other companions and how these change over time as well as analyse their stress levels.
- Supporting our bees, trees and elephant project (beehive purchase and honey production). Bee hives hung in trees deter elephants from having an impact on large trees of aesthetic appeal, thereby reducing human:elephant conflict issues.
- Running an educational outreach weekend for local students from impoverished communities, learning about elephant conservation.
We have an Online Shop where you can buy art work, Relate bracelets etc – profits on items sold go to Elephants Alive.
Your donation will make a very valuable contribution to our ongoing work.
Name of Account: |
Save the Elephants – South Africa (STE-SA) |
Bank: |
Standard Bank |
Branch: |
Hoedspruit |
Branch Code: |
051001 |
Account Number |
331632284 |
To promote harmonious co-existence between man and elephants.
To ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats.
Physical Address: -No street Address Available
Postal Address: -
Postal Code: 1380
Telephone: +27(0)794376079
Mobile: +27(0)794376079
Email: info2u@elephantsalive.org
Website: http://www.elephantsalive.org
Directions: No directions available.
Latitude: -24.3461390
Longitude: 30.9732917