Freda’s herd is now being tracked via a GPS collar on another female elephant in the herd named Quin.
Quin with her GPS collar visible
An attempt to recollar Freda was unsuccessful in December 2021, however the Elephant Conservation and Monitoring Unit (ECMU) managed to collar Quin instead. This herd has been monitored intensively over the past 12 months.
Freda and Quin’s herd was observed consistently with approximately 12-13 female elephants of various ages. Several elephant calves are also in the herd. The elephants were observed moving extensively in the Manggatal river area starting from the north side of the WKS corridor road to the south area of the WKS corridor leading to APL in Muara Sekalo Village. Unlike Mutiara, Ginting, and Indah, who moved towards Semambu Village APL when they were south of the corridor, Quin’s herd chose to stay in the riparian area of the Manggatal river.
Quin and Freda's herd including calves
Quin's survival in the Manggatal river area is an advantage in mitigating the human-elephant conflict because human activity is quite rare in the area around the Manggatal river. Quin rejoined the Mutiara, Ginting, and Indah herds before making a move to return to the north of the WKS corridor road in mid-September. Quin was observed to be in the WCA LAJ Block-4 after crossing the corridor. The ranging area for Quin’s herd during this period was calculated at 187km2.
Map showing the location of Quin's herd from April-September 2022
Thank you to Freda's adopters for your support in keeping her herd safe.
(Program run by Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Frankfurt Zoological Society).