You are hereNamibia and South Africa -- Field Study: How African Elephants Use Water
Namibia and South Africa -- Field Study: How African Elephants Use Water
Date: 2007
Expedition Leader: Dr. Terrie M. Williams (UCSC)
Team Members: Robin Dunkin (PhD candidate UCSC), Graduate Student; Ross McClenahan (MA) and James Estes (PhD), Field Assistants
Purpose: To understand competition for fresh water resources between wildlife and humans.
Description: On expedition during Summer 2007, biologist Terrie Williams and her graduate student, Robin Dunkin, conducted a survey of general water use by African elephants, the world’s largest land mammals. Carrying Wings WorldQuest Flag #5, Williams and Dunkin compared drinking and bathing habits of elephants in the harsh desert of northern Namibia and the bush veldt of South Africa. Their observations were part of a long-term plan to ensure that both animals and humans continue to have access to scarce water resources as climates change across southern Africa.
For weeks, the team observed elephant herd arrivals and departures at fresh-water drinking holes in South Africa’s Addo Elephant Park, as well as several sites in northern Namibia – two entirely different environments. At all sites, the team saw elephants drinking water to quench their thirst, but in desert regions, elephants also used water to cool their skin. Elephants would soak their bodies in water, throw dust over their skin to seal in the moisture, and let the moisture be evaporated by dry air over the next few hours. Since elephants have no sweat glands, this process allows them to stay cool in hot, dry conditions.
Terrie’s watering-hole observation site in South Africa’s Addo Elephant Park is surrounded by lush green vegetation. Home to more than 450 animals, the park supports a relatively dense elephant population. The elephants must share water resources with other large mammals, including various antelope and Cape Buffalo. When an elephant herd approaches a watering hole, the matriarch stands at the edge to keep other animals at bay until her herd has finished drinking. She remains at this spot until her herd moves off into the bush. Vegetation also supplies moisture for the herd.
When the team moved to the dry, desert climate of Namibia, they found that hydration was more challenging for elephant herds. In the rainy season, the Etosha Pan area is filled with water; but in the dry season, the caked, dusty plain is devoid of any moisture. After drinking and bathing in isolated watering holes, the elephants would scoop up dust with their trunks and fling it across their bodies, shooting the dust onto their backs, bellies, and behind the ears to seal water into their skin.
After Etosha, Terrie went to a more remote region in northeast Namibia near the Okavango River, which borders lands used by the Owambo, Bushmen, Kavango people, and massive herds of elephants. Except for the areas immediately adjoining the river, water is extremely scarce. Terrie often saw young children and women walking for miles with water jugs balanced on their heads as they transported water between villages and community spigots.
In the following days Terrie’s team watched herds of elephants and spoke with local people as they all searched for water. With changing climates and increasingly tight borders around lands, humans and animals are both facing scarcity as natural water holes evaporate. Terrie and her colleagues' future work will be to develop daily and seasonal water budgets for elephants living in different African regions. Their water survival plan will consider the unique biological needs of elephant herds, the changing environment of Africa, and the water requirements of local people.