The influence of personality and cognition on savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) behaviour

随着人口的增加，人与动物之间的冲突将会加剧。帮助防止这种冲突的战略往往依赖于对同一物种内所有个人采取全面的方法。然而，很少有人进行研究来了解积极接近人类住区的动物的个人动机，以及最终的个性。在博茨瓦纳，Mkgadikgadi平原的村庄经常发生人象冲突(HEC)，因为大草原上的大象经常从国家公园过河去掠夺庄稼。目前，地方当局正在公园边界修建围栏。确定围栏是否可能缓解HEC，或者是否需要实施替代解决方案，对于防止这一地区出现更大的冲突是不可或缺的。因此，我们的项目旨在量化人格是否预测非洲大草原大象的认知表达，作为了解大象个体特质的工具。将大象放在一个有三扇门的拼图盒中：推门(最容易)、滑梯(中等难度)或拉链(最难)，以获得水果奖励，将评估它们的个性(在接近和探索新物体时大胆或害羞)和解决问题的能力(它们首先进入哪一扇门，尝试打开它们的次数)。我们还将评估个性和解决问题的能力是否在以下方面有所不同：a)野生和圈养草原象，b)亚洲象和非洲象，以及c)个体对拼图盒和栅栏的反应。总体而言，这一预测性措施将确定我们的大象将如何对围栏[新颖性]做出反应，这将有助于制定有针对性的保护战略。

The conflict between human and animals will worsen as the human population increases. Strategies to help prevent such conflict often rely on blanket approaches across all individuals within a species. Yet, little research has been carried out to understand the individual motivation, and ultimately personality, of animals who actively approach human settlements. In Botswana, villages in the Mkgadikgadi pans suffer with frequent human-elephant conflict (HEC), as savannah elephants frequently cross the river from the National Park to crop-raid. Currently, local authorities are constructing fences along the park border. Determining if fences are likely to mitigate HEC, or if alternative solutions need to be implemented, is integral to prevent greater conflict arising in this area. As such, our project aims to quantify whether personality predicts the cognitive expression of African savannah elephants, as a tool to understand the individual idiosyncrasies of the elephants. Exposing the elephants to a puzzle-box featuring three doors: a push-door (easiest), a slide (medium difficulty) or pull-chain (hardest) to access a fruit reward, will assess both their personality (bold or shy in approaching and exploring the novel object), and problem-solving ability (which door do they access first, how many attempts to open them). We shall also assess if personality and problem-solving differs between: a) wild and captive savannah elephants, b) Asian and African elephants, and c) an individuals' response to the puzzle-box and fences. Overall, this predictive measure to determine how our elephants will react to the fences [novelty], will aid the development of tailored conservation strategies.