CAUSES AND MITIGATION MEASURES OF ELEPHANT (Loxodonta africana) MORTALITY IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA

Narok County supports a large number of elephants both in the protected area and the adjacent dispersal areas. Despite this, the ecosystem is undergoing a tremendous transformation that may be detrimental to the survival and conservation of elephants. Incidences of increasing elephant deaths are common. This study therefore aimed at identifying the causes of elephant mortality, rank these causes and find out the possible mitigation measures. Data were collected from field monitoring of elephant death incidences, questionnaire surveys, focus group discussion and interviews.Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 18) was used during data analysis. In this study, a 0.05 level of significance was used to determine the relationship between various data categories. The results showed that the total number of elephants that died between September 2010 and October 2011 due to trophy poaching, conflicts, unknown reasons, euthanasia, natural cause, control, and accidents were significantly different (χ2 = 35.161, df = 6, p < 0.001). More elephant deaths were as a result of trophy poaching (45%) followed by conflict (29%); natural (10%), accident (7%) and the least were control, euthanasia and accidents (3%), respectively.We conclude that trophy poaching is the main cause of elephant mortality.Hence, stringent anti-poaching measure should be employed including regular patrols as well as incorporating local communities in elephant conservation. Appropriate conflict mitigation strategies should be employed among other strategies like benefit sharing, awareness raising through education and extension, fencing of intensive farming areas, compensation, among other strategies