A team from Peace Parks Foundation is visiting Sioma Ngwezi National Park in Zambia and stops to stretch their legs during a morning drive. There is always something new to learn when in nature. As the team marvels at the size of an elephant footprint in the mud, Gordon Homer, Peace Parks’ Project Manager for the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, takes the opportunity to share some of his impressive bush knowledge.
With lots of evidence pointing towards this watering hole being a firm favourite amongst elephant in the area, Gordon goes on to explain why these herbivores are so important for shaping and structuring the ecosystem, making them one of nature’s keystone species…and what better way to demonstrate this than examining their dung! This might sound unpleasant but considering that these mammals have a strictly vegan diet, their waste consists of grasses, twigs and other natural matter, making their dung far from dirty.
Unlike many other herbivores, elephant are known as hind-gut fermenters, which means that they do not ruminate or chew cud. With 16-18 hours of their day spent eating, very little of their food is chewed and digested. It is then no surprise that Gordon comes across a fully intact ana tree seed upon closer inspection of the dung. Thanks to the dung being rich in nutrients, it makes for a perfect incubator with fertiliser for seeds such as this one.
The aptly named dung beetle is also very reliant on elephant droppings and can often be seen rolling small dung balls around – a rather impressive sight for such a small insect. They use the ball as either food or buried in their breeding chambers which improves and enrich the soil for the germination of new trees.
Although a popular food source and lifeline for many in the animal kingdom, the benefits of elephant dung have not gone unnoticed by humans. In communities throughout Africa, the dung is collected and lit, with the odorous smoke commonly used as a mosquito repellant. Before going into labour, some women would also drink tea made from elephant dung soaked in water. They believe that the dung contains anti-bacterial properties provided by some of the plants the elephant eat.
Nature has a fully functioning waste disposal system that has been in place for millennia. Every species, both big and small, plays an integral part in ensuring that even the waste is not wasted. We could certainly take a page or two out of her book!
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