Conservation Science & Ecology

Tech and Rewilding: Our Dual Approach to Saving African Elephants

At Elephanatics, our approach to saving elephants is powered by elite scientific research, cutting-edge technology, and global expertise in ecosystem restoration. Our conservation philosophy is anchored by two of our prominent Directors: Dr. Jake Wall, who guides our high-tech geospatial tracking initiatives, and Dr. Rene Beyers, a leading international voice in rewilding and field ecology.

🌐 The Tech & Data Pillar: Reopening the Map

Data is our first line of defense. Seminal research led by our Co-founder and Lead Scientist, Dr. Jake Wall, revealed a staggering truth: due to human encroachment, elephants are currently restricted to using only 17% of their potential range across Africa.

💡 Did You Know? Elephants have been crowded out of their historical habitats and are now confined to less than one-fifth of their natural African range.

By using advanced geospatial mapping to identify these fragmented habitats, Elephanatics highlights exactly where vital migration paths have been cut off. This invaluable data allows us and our frontline African partners—including Save the Elephants and the Mara Elephant Project—to identify, monitor, and protect the critical wildlife corridors elephants need to move safely.

Frontline Tracking: We champion and support the use of advanced GPS tracking collars. If an elephant’s movement suddenly stops, custom software algorithms trigger an automated “immobility alert” directly to anti-poaching units, allowing rangers to reach the exact coordinates in minutes.
Global Systems: Dr. Wall’s extensive expertise includes the development of global visualization platforms like EarthRanger and Ecoscope, which integrate live data from ranger patrols and elephant collars onto a single, unified map to keep protected areas secure.
Virtual Safaris: We leverage digital innovation to bridge the gap between Canada and the African savanna through unique public tools like Google Street View in Kenya’s Samburu National Park and interactive Story Spheres.

🌿 The Ecological Pillar: Rewilding & Ecosystem Restoration

Technology protects the animal, but saving a species requires restoring the wild spaces they depend on. Elephanatics’ Director and African Elephant Specialist, Dr. Rene Beyers, brings world-renowned expertise in Rewilding—the progressive, science-based process of rebuilding self-regulating, resilient ecosystems that have suffered major human disturbance.

As a keystone species, elephants play a disproportionate role in engineering their environments, regulating every aspect of the food web around them. Through Dr. Beyers’ leadership, Elephanatics ensures our conservation efforts align with global frameworks like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Global Leadership & Core Contributions:

IUCN CEM Task Force on Rewilding: Dr. Beyers is actively involved with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) task force, directly contributing to the systematic literature reviews and practitioner surveys used to develop global Guidelines for Rewilding.
The Routledge Handbook of Rewilding: Co-edited by Dr. Beyers alongside more than 60 distinguished experts, this foundational text stands as the comprehensive overview of the history, ecological practice, and ethics of the modern rewilding movement.
Serengeti Field Ecology: Dr. Beyers co-authored A Place Like No Other (Princeton University Press) alongside Professor Anthony Sinclair, documenting firsthand the biological principles and keystone effects—such as migration dynamics—that regulate life in the Serengeti ecosystem.

🛸 Insights From Aerial Surveillance & Field Research

Monitoring elephants from the air or on the ground requires a deep understanding of herd dynamics and animal behavior. Here is what our scientific field tracking reveals:

Solitary Bull Dynamics: Mature bulls often travel entirely alone or in small “bachelor” groups. Tracking these independent movements is vital for identifying where male elephants are testing human-dominated boundaries or encountering agricultural fields.
Family Herd Management: Counting and tracking entire family units from the air is highly complex. Matriarchs lead their families closely, and identifying tiny calves hidden in tall grass requires an experienced eye to accurately gauge population health.
Mega-Herd Aggregation: When massive herds cluster tightly together on a single hillside, it is a magnificent sight—but it also signals an ecological warning. For scientists, huge groupings often indicate that intense human encroachment is forcing different elephant families to crowd into smaller, restricted pockets of land.

🏆 Recognized Leadership

Our commitment to science-based conservation is led by world-class, award-winning expertise. Dr. Jake Wall was recently awarded the 2025 Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize for his outstanding individual achievement in geographical research and its application to wildlife conservation.

Combined with Dr. Rene Beyers’ foundational leadership in international rewilding frameworks, Elephanatics stands at the cutting edge of global conservation. This level of technical and academic authority ensures that every dollar donated to our organization supports the most effective, data-driven, and ecologically rigorous efforts available today.

💳 Support Our Conservation Work

Whether it is funding the data fees for a GPS tracking collar or supporting habitat restoration initiatives, your donation keeps our conservation pillars standing strong.

👉 Donate to Our Conservation Fund

Supplementary Resources

View Dr. Wall’s speech at the 2015 Global March for Elephants and Rhinos here and view more photos from the march here.

View some photos from an aerial survey done by Dr. Wall while working with The Mara Elephant project using his GPS technology:

In photo 1, you can see a big bull elephant with his tracking collar on. The bull looks healthy and it’s always interesting to see if there are any other elephants around, as bulls often travel alone.

In the second photo, you can see a female elephant travelling with her family. It’s much more difficult to count herds than solo elephants from the air. How many do you see?

In the third photo, there is a giant herd we found on the side of a hill. Herds this big require many photos to count them all upon return to your desk. It’s a nuanced situation, as getting closer with the plane or helicopter might make the elephants start running, whereas being too far away makes it difficult to see what’s going on. Thank goodness for zoom lenses! On one hand, it’s lovely to see this many elephants together. On the other, it makes scientists wonder WHY they are sticking so close together. Could it be the threat of human encroachment on their land? This is a growing problem in the Mara.