Date/Time
02/20/2024 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is world famous for its work with birds, but did you know that it also has an Elephant Listening Project?

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), a separate species from the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana), inhabits the dense tropical rainforests of central and west Africa, and plays a unique and crucial role in maintaining the forest ecosystem. Thus, the protection of forest elephants is integral to guaranteeing ecosystem health and biodiversity, both on local and global scales.

In recent decades, forest elephant populations have dramatically declined largely due to poaching, habitat fragmentation, and habitat loss. To help conserve west and central Africa’s tropical forests and forest elephants, the Elephant Listening Project (ELP) utilizes passive acoustic monitoring (PAM).

PAM is a non-invasive method that enables evidence-based conservation strategies through large-scale monitoring of elusive, acoustically active species, as well as human disturbance, such as illegal gun hunting and logging. Research Analyst Bobbi Estabrook explains how the ELP works toward improving conservation outcomes by supporting data-driven decision-making, evaluating the effectiveness of anti-poaching strategies, mentoring researchers, and sharing the wonder and complexity of forest elephants.

Bobbi Estabrook joined the ELP team in 2021. She conducts acoustic analyses, manages & carries out research projects and mentors the many students that join the lab each semester. Bobbi first touched base with ELP in 2007, when she attended the first ever Sound Analysis Workshop. With more than 10 years of experience using passive acoustic methods to understand the ecology of baleen whales, Bobbi’s current research focuses on the acoustic ecology of African forest elephants and the effects of human activities on their vocal behavior.

FMI:  https://www.elephantlisteningproject.org/

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