Elephant poaching and law enforcement in the central Luangwa Valley, Zambia

1. In the central Luangwa Valley in Zambia, the relationship between the illegal killing of elephants and resource allocation to law enforcement in terms of manpower and budget was investigated for the period 1988-95. 2. Five out of nine predictor variables related to resource allocation, i.e. bonuses paid (cash rewards on arrest of poachers or confiscation of firearms or trophies), scout density, effective investigation days, the total law-enforcement budget and the budget related to personal emoluments, showed a significant relationship with the numbers of elephants found killed illegally (response variable). 3. Two minimal adequate models explained most of the variation in the numbers of elephants found killed illegally. The first model used bonuses paid with effective investigation days as the predictor variable, while in the second model effective investigation days was replaced by km 2 carriers Through correlations, bonuses paid reflected the variation in the average bonus rates paid for claims and the total manpower input. 4. For this study area, the optimum levels of law-enforcement input are estimated at one scout per 23.8 km 2 and an expenditure of 582.2 per km 2 per annum. 5. In the central Luangwa Valley in Zambia, fluctuations in the numbers of elephants found killed illegally from 1988 to 1995 can be attributed solely to resource allocation. Therefore, there is no need to invoke any effect of the international ivory ban to explain the fluctuations in elephant poaching in this study area.