Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

had larger ranges than those elephants dwelling in the more favorable habitat of Tsavo
West. Barnes (1983) reports further that there is a difference between males and females
in ranging behavior, especially during the mid-dry season when bulls traveled only short
distances each day while females and their young journeyed long distances in search of
higher quality food. Males traveled the most in the mid-winter and early dry seasons
when they were sexually active.
Eltringham’s (1980) study on the Mweya Peninsula, Rwenzori National Park,
(Uganda) found that elephant numbers decreased significantly when there was an
increase of other animals in the same area. There was a deterioration in the grassland due
to an increase in the hippopotamus population, which in turn led the elephants to avoid
the Peninsula. As a result, reconstructions of the past environment in the Late Bronze
Age must take into account other animals- in particular the hippopotamus, which is
known to cause deterioration in the environment due to over-grazing, or at least render
the grasslands unusable to other animals who are unable to feed on the closely cropped
grass of the ‘hippo lawns.’ The implication is that hippopotamus ivory is not as likely to
come from the same geographic localities as elephant ivory.
West and Central Africa
In the Acacia woodlands of Central Africa elephants prefer browse in the hot dry
season, but grasses in the wet season. Again, these season-dependent food preferences
seem to be correlated to the protein content of the available food.
West Africa, unlike the dry grasslands of East Africa, is covered by much forest.
Short (1981) and Tchamba and Seme (1993) examined elephant diet and feeding
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