Effects of human settlement and roads on diel activity patterns of elephants (Loxodonta africana)

As the human footprint expands worldwide, people and wildlife are coming into greater contact, and areas of human activity may be simultaneously associated with risk and reward for animals. To avoid human threats while exploiting opportunities, animals may adjust their spatiotemporal activity, using areas of anthropogenic disturbance at night when people are less active. We combined four camera trap datasets from Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to evaluate the effects of roads and settlement on diel activity patterns of elephants (Loxodonta africana). We found high rates of elephant activity along the boundary of the park, where elephants can access cultivated crops, and along roads, which serve as movement corridors. However, elephants restricted their activity to the night and crepuscular periods in these areas of human disturbance, seeking refuge in the interior of the park away from roads and settlements during the day. Our findings suggest that a history of killing and antagonism has instilled a fear of humans in this elephant population, with implications for research, tourism and human-elephant coexistence. Our study highlights the utility of camera traps in monitoring human-wildlife conflict and habituation and demonstrates the value of integrating disparate camera trap datasets for comparative analyses on landscape or even continental scales.