Background Info
Importance: Elephants are critically endangered due to less food and water supply.
- Elephants are key factor to the ecosystem of the forest and savannas, as they help maintain the health of the environment.
- Elephants are the world's largest land mammals, specifically the African elephant.
- Their tusks are made of ivory which is constantly being poached for different cultural reasons.
- Elephants lifespan can be between 60 - 70 years.
Important vocabulary
- Foraging - When an animal or person searches widely for food or supply.
- Migration - Seasonal movements of animals from one area to another.
Research question:
What is the difference between elephant migration in the wet and dry season?
Hypothesis(s)
Alternate/Experimental hypothesis - Elephants migrate more in the wet season vs. the dry season.
Null hypothesis - Elephant migration is not related to season.
Explanation - We are hypothesizing this based on research we have that suggests that elephants migrate more in the wet season because the water is more available.
Experimental design/methods
Objective: Building a simulation based on a specific ecosystem that shows how an elephant migrates during the wet and dry season.
Step one
- We found information on elephant behavior, instincts, and the chosen ecosystem (Tarangire-Manayara) as well as seasonal differences.
Step two
- Next, we used code to simulate elephants migrating in each season and test the difference in water consumption.
Step three
- Now we use the analyzed data to test the hypothesis that they migrated more in the wet season, compared to the other seasons.
Conclusions
In conclusion, this shows that in the wet season, they travel more miles (157 more on average) and consume more water (349 gallons more on average). This is assuming that they use a mental map to know seasonal water distributions and use that to then decide know where to migrate.
Now that we know this, we would know when not to interfere with the water during certain seasons. If we know it's the dry season, so people should avoid fencing up the water (as found in a previous article) and make sure that the elephants have water shared with them.
Citations
Credits:
Created with images by baluda - "elephants tusks trunks" • luxstorm - "elephants family group river" • bisakhadatta - "elephant tusk trunk" • MabelAmber - "ditch water wetland"