Forest Elephants Abound in Central African National Park
8/26/99
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Title: Forest Elephants Abound in Central African National Park
Source: Cable News Network
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 26, 1999
Byline: Gary Streiker
August 26, DZANGA-NDOKI NATIONAL PARK, Central African Republic
(CNN) -- In a forest clearing, elephants come for salt and for
company.
Normally shy and reclusive in the dark forest, they show little fear
of observers, although they will complain by issuing a trumpet call
or charging.
In the rainforests of Central Africa, these elephants have long
guarded their secrets from outsiders.
"The great difficulty in studying elephants in this environment is
the vegetation," says Andrea Turkalo of the Wildlife Conservation
Society, who has studied forest elephants for nine years. "It's so
dense that even if you get a glimpse of an elephant it's never
sustained, and they usually run away as soon as they hear you."
Turkalo observes the elephants at the remote Dzanga Bai clearing, a
30-acre deposit of mineral salts beneath the sand.
It is only in such a clearing, where they gather in large numbers,
that the elephants can be easily observed.
Africa's forest elephants are different from their more common
savannah cousins. They're smaller, making them attractive to hunters
and land-hungry farmers.
Their ivory is said to be of the highest quality. As the forest is
fragmented and penetrated by human settlements, these animals are
prime targets.
But for now, in this part of Central Africa, forest elephants are
safe, protected by a national park that lies in a distant region with
few roads and few people with guns.
It's a place where an elephant can still be curious about humans,
with no reason to fear.