FOREST ELEPHANT PATHS AND MOVEMENTS AT THE ODZALA NATIONAL-PARK, CONGO - THE ROLE OF CLEARINGS AND MARANTACEAE FORESTS

The role of forest clearings and Marantaceae forest on elephant moveme nt at the Odzala National Park was studied by describing and mapping e lephant paths. Three types of paths were distinguished based on their direction, length, width, elephant activity and the types of forests t hey cross. They were called boulevards, foraging paths, and clearing a lleys. All paths explored were heavily used. Boulevards are used for t ravelling over long distances (up to 34 km) and for linking up rapidly favourite sites such as clearings. Foraging paths mainly run through the medium-density Marantaceae forests which provide elephants with bo th herbaceous foods and tree fruit. Clearing alleys form a dense netwo rk of tracks around clearings. This network could be a result of an an ti-predatory monitoring behaviour of elephants before entering the cle arings where they have long experienced heavy poaching. The heavy tram pling which results from the elephant activity could contribute to the maintenance of clearings by preventing germination and seedling survi val of the numerous seeds dispersed in their dung.