Detecting Earthquakes To Protect Elephants

Protecting elephants is one of the priorities in the defense of African fauna. These giants quickly disappear due to ivory trafficking and poachers who pursue them relentlessly. But what does our ability to detect earthquakes have to do with safeguarding elephants? Let’s find out together in this article.

Why is the African elephant in danger?

The African elephant has been persecuted for centuries, and it is therefore vital to protect it. In ancient times, these huge pachyderms were used as war machines and killed for their fangs. But only in the nineteenth century their hunt became tragically massive.

The spread of firearms and the fashion of the first Safaris  made elephant hunting very popular. Many wealthy European and American personalities paid large sums to be able to obtain such “trophies”.

Only in 1989 was elephant hunting banned and the trafficking of ivory was declared illegal. A measure too late and made necessary by the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of elephants. The population of the African species had been practically halved.

Fortunately, elephant hunting every day is increasingly opposed both in the West and in Africa. The fines imposed by the governments of the countries where these animals live can exceed 10,000 euros. A stratospheric figure for many poachers, who also risk losing their hunting license forever.

Elephants, fascinating animals

The African elephant is the largest land animal in the world. It weighs about six tons, although there are some that have even reached 10. They are extremely intelligent animals, with a very rich emotional life. They even understand the concept of death and have an animal culture of their own.

Then, when the young people and their families find their skeletons, they carry out real funeral ceremonies. They are often seen stroking the bones of deceased elders for a long time.

Elephants and earthquakes, a special bond

Today, new ways are being sought to ensure the survival of elephants. For example, detecting earthquakes could protect African elephants. We are talking about analyzing and studying those tremors that these huge animals create when they walk or run on the ground.

Several British universities have studied the tremors these animals produce when they walk. They believe they are vital to their communication and this could be used for their protection.

Researchers have even found that elephant herd’s vocalizations and calls are transmitted through the ground, as this allows them to propagate faster than through the air.

The team of scientists began this study with the aim of knowing the distance these vibrations could reach. Along the way they found it was relatively easy to separate the various messages and deduce the different behaviors that elephants have and how the terrain or human activities affect them.

How to protect elephants with this information?

They also discovered that human activities interfered with this communication, and that it can be known when elephants are being persecuted.

Therefore, this study proposes the use of earthquake detectors. That is, through the use of seismographs to check elephants tens of kilometers away, without disturbing them and to know when they are being attacked by poachers.

For example, these detectors can decipher a stampede, which obviously is triggered in the face of a danger such as, evidently, that generated by the presence of poachers.