An assessment of the maximum sustainable yield of ivory from African elephant populations

A general, logistic population model is used to explore the dynamics of harvested elephant populations. The model includes two features peculiar to elephant populations and the harvesting of ivory. First, because of the shape of the growth curve of tusks with age, the conversion factor that relates the number of elephants killed to the ivory yield in weight is not constant, but a function of the population size. Second, tusks from animals that die from natural causes can be retrieved and included in the total yield of ivory. The implications of the relationship between tusk size and age of an animal on the maximum sustainable yield in terms of ivory tonnage and in terms of the number of tusks are explored. The nonequilibrium implications of the tusk growth curve on the population dynamics under different harvesting strategies are also investigated. Results indicate that the maximum sustainable yield is achieved at very low harvest rates with population levels close to the pristine equilibrium. When tusks from animals that die of natural causes are included in the harvest, the maximum yield may, depending on the mortality and recruitment parameters, occur when there is no direct harvest.