The African elephant Loxodonta africana
Blumenbach, a water dependent intermediate bulk
feeder is relatively unselective preferring grazing
to browsing (Van Soest 1982, Van Wijngaarden
1985). Unlike the elephants found in grasslands
(savanna) forest elephants are browsers and feed
mainly on shrubs and saplings in secondary
forests (Olivier 1978). Tire forest dwelling elephants
in Kenya are found in mixed forests along the
farmlands during wet seasons. Sometimes they
invade farmlands and eat agricultural crops such
as maize, bananas, sugarcanes and potatoes. As
the weather becomes drier, the elephants move up
the mountain where the forage is greener and
more abundant. If the drought persists they change
their feeding habit and start feeding on trees
(Beekman and Prins 1989) hence destroying forest
plantations. The forest elephants change their diet
from the scarce shrubs to tree bark during dry
season. In 1986 damage of forest plantations by
elephants increased and it was decided to assess
the severity of the problem. The main objective of
this study was to determine most damaged trees
by elephants.