Early age reproduction in female savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) after severe poaching

A 10-year study revealed that after severe poaching (>93% killed) of elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Zambia’s North Luangwa National Park (NLNP) during the 1970s and 1980s, the age of reproduction in females was greatly reduced. Fifty-eight per cent of births were delivered by females aged 8.5–14 years, an age at which elephants were reported to be sexually immature in nearby South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) before poaching. The mean age of females at first birth (AFB) (1993, 1994) was 11.3 years. Prior to poaching, the mean age AFB in SLNP was 16 years. The NLNP age structure and sex ratio were skewed, mean family unit size was reduced, and 37% of family units contained no females older than 15 years. Twenty-eight per cent of family units were comprised entirely of a single mother and her calf, and 8% of units consisted only of orphans who would have been considered sexually immature prior to poaching. Only 6% of survivors were older than 20 years, the age at which females in little-poached populations generally become most reproductively active. After a community-based conservation programme and the UN-CITES ban on the ivory trade were introduced, no elephants were recorded killed. In spite of a high reproductive rate, 6 years after poaching decreased, the density of the NLNP population had not increased, supporting predictions that the removal of older matriarchs from family units will have serious consequences on the recovery of this species.