HARMONIOUS COEXISTENCE

By Yin Lun & Misiani Zachary

Over the past few months， with the northward migration of Asian elephants in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province， the wild species has caught the eye of the international community， and the preparation for the establishment of an Asian elephant national park in China has been pushed forward. With the promotion and establishment of elephant national parks all over the world， especially in African countries featuring rich biodiversity resources， a well-preserved ecological environment and traditional know-how， a lot of experience in elephant protection has been accumulated.

Valuable knowledge

Kenya is one of the countries in Africa with a large number of elephants. At present， the number of elephants remains at about 35，000. Elephants inhabit nearly one fifth of Kenyas land area and nearly half of them reside in national parks and reserves. In recent years， the conflict between humans and elephants has evolved into a major threat to elephant protection， posing new challenges to elephant protection and management in Kenya. In this context， some national parks and reserves have begun to integrate the community-based protection of elephants into their policies and concrete actions.

Taking the Samburu region in northern Kenya as an example， two national nature reserves， namely Samburu and Buffalo Spring， have been established solely for the purpose of elephant protection. These two national nature reserves cover an area of some 330 square km， and around 750 elephants roam the reserves. The number of elephants in the reserves is constantly changing because these animals migrate freely and often are found outside reservation lines. The Samburu people， who mainly engage in animal husbandry， are native to this area and their livestock grazing lands and the elephants habitat overlap. Therefore， the competition for water， land and other natural resources has caused both long-term and periodic conflicts between man and animal.

At the same time， these people， given the long-term symbiotic environment， possess a rich traditional knowledge related to elephants. Today， their familiarity has become the basis for solving the human-elephant conflict and protecting the large mammal in the Samburu area. This novel notion includes the following three aspects：

First， the traditional knowledge of elephants is studied in great detail， including myths and legends， totem beliefs， livelihood technologies and customary laws. In the myths and legends of the Samburu people， the animal is regarded as an ancient “relative” of mankind， because they bear many similarities with human beings； the trunk resembles the human arms， the female has breasts like those of a woman， etc. At the same time， in days long gone， elephants actually used to live inside the Samburu peoples homes and help the women with their housework. These myths and legends are testimony to the close relationship between man and elephant in the region.