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Detailed Satellite Mapping Improved Models of Possible Elephant Corridors in Zimbabwe

A herd of African bush elephants at a waterhole in Zimbabwe
Conservation · Habitat protection

More detailed satellite mapping improved models of potential landscape connectivity for African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Binga District, Zimbabwe. The study, published on 19 July 2026 in Landscape Ecology, tested whether a locally refined description of dry forest could improve models that assign different landscape features higher or lower movement suitability and combine them into possible connections between habitat areas. In these models, higher potential connectivity means that the landscape is expected to allow easier movement between habitat areas; it does not mean that elephants were directly observed using a route.

Forest type and structure sharpened the model

The researchers compared a global land-cover map with a Sentinel-2-based map that distinguished Miombo, Mopane and riparian forest and separated open, closed and shrub-like forest structure. They then added environmental factors known to influence elephant movement, including distance to water, settlements and cropland, vegetation greenness, wildfire frequency and slope. The resulting potential-connectivity patterns for wet and dry seasons were compared with two corridors previously mapped by local stakeholders.

The more detailed forest map improved the models’ ability to distinguish the stakeholder-mapped corridors from the surrounding landscape, and adding the environmental variables strengthened that contrast further. All three model versions showed higher potential connectivity inside the mapped corridors, but the most detailed model showed the clearest separation. The seasonal pattern also mattered: potential connectivity was generally higher and more diffuse in the wet season, while the contrast between corridors and the surrounding landscape was stronger in the dry season.

The maps show candidates, not confirmed elephant routes

These are maps of potential connectivity, not confirmed routes used by tracked elephants. The study did not validate the models with GPS tracking data from elephants, which the authors describe as the preferred test. The models also suggested a possible western corridor that had not been identified in the participatory mapping; local residents reported elephant use there, but the current study could not verify it directly.

The authors present the approach as a resource-efficient way to improve corridor planning where detailed tracking data are unavailable. The main gain is not a definitive map of elephant movement, but a more ecologically detailed way to identify candidate connections and decide where field validation may be most useful.

Sources and image credit

  1. Guillon, C., Blanc, L., Vanthomme, H., Le Bel, S., Baudry, J., Deforceville, C., Dessard, H., Phiri, M., & Betbeder, J. (2026). Enhancing rule-based potential connectivity models for African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) using remote sensing in Binga District, Zimbabwe. Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-026-02415-xPrimary peer-reviewed open-access article published 19 July 2026 under CC BY 4.0. The study compared a coarse global land-cover map with a detailed Sentinel-2-derived classification of dry-forest type and structure, then added environmental variables to rule-based potential-connectivity models for African savanna elephants in Binga District, Zimbabwe. Models were compared with stakeholder-mapped corridors; GPS movement data were not used for validation.

Image: Jürgen Kehrberger / Panoramio / Wikimedia Commons — herd of African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) at a waterhole in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe; image uploaded 12 June 2009. Representative image of the focal species in Zimbabwe; not from Binga District or the study. · CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Source

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