Using irregular ranger patrols to quantify elephant occupancy in non‐protected and community‐modified landscapes

While wildlife management efforts have primarily focused on protected areas, unprotected areas – including community‐owned lands – are becoming increasingly important as habitat linkages and dispersal areas between multiple protected areas for species and processes that sustain them. However, these unprotected areas and community lands often lack structured protection measures and face numerous threats to both species and habitats. Involvement of local communities in the management of these areas through community‐led strategies can enhance safety for both people and wildlife, thereby promoting coexistence. To examine the effectiveness of community‐led strategies for managing wildlife outside protected areas, we fit multi‐season occupancy models on African elephant (Loxodonta africana) sightings data collected by volunteer Village Game Scouts (VGS) while on irregular and demand‐driven patrols within Mwanga district in Northern Tanzania. Patrol data were processed using the Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool (SMART). We estimated elephant probability of occupancy, detection, colonization and extinction, identifying key elephant dispersal areas in the community‐modified areas within the district. Our results indicate that proximity to Tsavo West National Park and the availability of seasonal water sources positively influenced the probability of elephant colonization. In contrast, the proportion of built‐up and farmed areas, and distance to permanent water sources, negatively influenced the probability of colonization. The number of scout patrols did not significantly influence the probability of elephant colonization or extinction, and elephant occupancy remained relatively stable during the study period. Our study highlights the complementary role of non‐protected areas in maintaining populations of endangered species such as elephants. We demonstrate that structured, volunteer community‐led strategies coupled with effective communication with authorities, can be used to monitor wildlife spatial distribution and identify factors influencing their distribution in non‐protected areas. We recommend community‐led protection measures for corridors and dispersal areas, as well as transboundary collaboration to maintain landscape connectivity for endangered species such as elephants.