Animals often encounter novel environments, both naturally and due to human activities. Translocations are conservation actions that introduce animals to new habitats. Animals' behaviors post-release can provide useful tools for assessing translocations' outcomes. In addition, translocations provide extraordinary opportunities for studying basic questions about the animals' behavior in novel settings that are relevant to natural life history stages, such as dispersal. Here I present the outcome of the largest African elephant (Loxodonta africana) translocation.

In Chapter One I examine the settlement process of the translocated elephants. I show that both males and females left the release site and returned home. In addition, the exploration patterns of the elephants remaining at the release site varied greatly among individuals, and the degree to which individuals explored their new home negatively correlated with their approach distance to a human observer. In Chapter Two I provide details on the translocated elephants' demographics, behavior, and physiology, and compare them to the local resident population. The translocated elephants' behavior and stress hormones converged with those of the local population. However, the translocated elephants' death rates were higher than those of the locals and their body condition was poorer. These two first chapters use behavior to assess the outcomes of the translocation and to provide recommendations for future management actions.

In Chapter Three I address basic questions in animal behavior by examining the social response of the translocated elephants to their new home. The translocated elephants preferred interacting with more conspecifics upon arrival to their new home than later, when the habitat became familiar to them, suggesting there are added benefits to sociality when a habitat is unfamiliar. Furthermore, I show that the translocated elephants preferred interacting with familiar conspecifics and not with the local residents. This social segregation dissolved over time, suggesting that elephants are able to integrate into an existing social setting.

This study melds applied and basic research in animal behavior. It is the first to report on the outcomes of an elephant translocation that involves both family groups and adult males, and it successfully utilizes management actions to explore animals' behavior.