Raid range selection by elephants around Kakum Conservation Area: Implications for the identification of suitable mitigating measures

Abstract

The factors that influenced elephants raiding in some spatial ranges around Kakum Conservation Area (KCA), Ghana were investigated. Crops were the basis for range selection by the elephants and the most commonly raided crops were plantain, cocoa and cassava. However, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations, bushes, crops at seedling and growing stages, or farms with active pepper fence never suffered any raid. It was observed that the presence of pawpaw (Carica papaya) and bako (Tieghemella heckelii) exposed nearby farms to risk. Since elephants do not raid oil palm plantations around KCA, we recommend that only oil palm groves should border the KCA to mitigate human-elephant conflict around KCA and that the pepper-fence method currently in use could also be effective if its accompanying financial burden is taken away from the farmers and funded by the government. Key words: Raided zone, oil palm plantation, pepper-fence, human-elephant conflict, protected areas.