MEET THE SCIENTIST
David Daballen
A finalist in the Tusk Conservation Awards, David talks about protecting elephants in northern Kenya
DAVID DABALLEN HAS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT wildlife since he was a young boy growing up as a member of the Samburu people of northern Kenya. Now director of field operations at Save the Elephants, he’s been named as a finalist in the Tusk Conservation Awards, which celebrate Africa-based conservation leaders and wildlife rangers.
“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t believe it!” David says. “I hope it will inspire the next generation of Kenyan conservationists to follow in my path. Professionally, it will help my efforts in elephant conservation and allow me to scale up my mission to create more wildlife corridors and develop even tighter relationships with leaders.”
“Over the past 20 years working with elephants, I have learnt to identify 500 individuals through their ear patterns and tusk shapes,” he says. “Many of them are like friends, and I know who they are by the way they hold themselves.” Recognising individual elephants is key to understanding how elephant society works, which in turn helps conservationists design solutions for coexistence that work for them and humans.
“Our field team collects data on a daily basis from a study elephant population,” David explains. “They scrutinise elephant families: all births, disappearances, and estrus and musth.” A digital database enables analysis of population dynamics, social structure, individual and population dietary preferences, seasonal dispersal, paternity from DNA, and mortality from different causes, including illegal poaching.
“As a Samburu elder, I am able to converse with all levels of leadership, and inspire behavioural change in local communities,” says David. He and his colleagues were able to persuade community leaders to act to stop elephant poaching in northern Kenya during the epidemic there between 2009 and 2013.
“Thanks to the efforts of organisations like Save the Elephants, Kenya Wildlife Service and other partners, poaching has reduced considerably in Kenya,” says David. But these creatures are now facing a new threat: human-elephant conflict over shrinking grazing and water resources, resulting from overgrazing and climate change. “Solving this is going to be a huge challenge.”