WHEN SATELLITES MEET RELATIONSHIPS A study on male African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) in northeastern Botswana

Sammanfattning

Male African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) are often portrayed as solitary wanderers, yet their interactions influence access to resources, social learning, and dominance hierarchies. This study investigates social interactions among adult males in northeastern Botswana using GPS derived movement data collected between 2022 and 2025. The primary aim was to determine whether males actively avoid one another following proximity events. Spatial proximity, repeated co-occurrence, and post-encounter movement responses were quantified, with particular focus on changes in inter-individual distance within a 6-hour window. Interaction patterns were further examined across environmental conditions, including seasonal variation and proximity to water resources such as the Boteti River. GPS locations were recorded at hourly intervals from ten collared adult males. Proximity events were defined as instances where two individuals occurred within 500 m during the same time interval. Post-encounter responses were assessed by comparing distance at the time of meeting with distance 6 hours later. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the influence of season, river proximity, and dyad identity on post-encounter spacing. No avoidance pattern emerged at the population level. Mean distance increased only marginally after encounters, and responses varied widely among dyads: some consistently separated, others showed neutral or mixed patterns. Neither season nor river proximity significantly affected post-encounter behaviour, whereas dyad identity explained most of the variation. These findings indicate that short-term spacing behaviour among males is shaped primarily by dyad-specific social relationships rather than ecological conditions. Fine-scale satellite tracking thus provides valuable insight into individual variation in male elephant sociality.