It has been noted that the elephants of Mt. Elgon are the only elephants in the world known to go deep into caves to mine salt for their own consumption. This unique elephant culture, along with severe threats to the survival of elephants on Mt. Elgon and the fragile ecological status of the mountain call for urgent action to protect the pachyderms in that environment.
Officers of EAWLS-MEEP with trainees drawn from KWS and the local community.
Their security profile and exposure to poaching has been largely unassessed. EAWLS’ Mount Elgon Elephant Project (MEEP) has kicked off with the training of community scouts on Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) and Cyber Trackers as monitoring tools to help collect data using smart phones on the Mount Elgon Cave elephants. Trainees were drawn from the Kenya Wildlife Service and the local community.
