An attempt to recollar Freda was unsuccessful in December 2021, however the Elephant Conservation and Monitoring Units (ECMU) managed to collar another female named Quin in the herd so the group could still be closely monitored.
Quin and her calf feeding in grassland
After crossing the WKS corridor road in the previous period, Freda's herd movement remained predominantly on the south side of the WKS corridor road. The herd’s movement on the south side of the corridor road continues concurrently with the movement of the Indah and Ginting groups, which had already been on the south side of the road earlier. The Manggatal River has become a patch for Freda's movement from the north side of the corridor towards the south side of the WKS corridor road.
Map of Quin’s ranging area from October 2023 – March 2024 based on GPS collar and radio telemetry.
Within the Freda/Quin herd, several elephant calves and young males are intensively observed. The herd, which previously joined the Cinta group in the ABT Block 1 area, still occasionally attempts to move towards the north side of the corridor road using the Manggatal River but is hindered by the high human activity along the Manggatal River boundary to the north of the corridor road. The dynamics of Quin's movement are particularly interesting, as Quin always moves together with elephant calves suspected to be her offspring.
As a response to the previous GPS Collar error in Quin's GPS Collar, a replacement GPS Collar for Quin was installed in February 2024. This will allow the ECMU to closely monitor and protect Quin, Freda and the other elephants in the herd. The team recently captured this beautiful video of Quin grazing with herd members including her calf.
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).
