2026 Mowana(Baobab) Update

We monitor all of the pasted Baobabs to assess whether the paste has stopped the elephants from continuing to eat the tree.

With the heavy rains, we were concerned that the paste would wash away from the tree and it would again be vulnerable to the elephants. We expected that we would need to regularly re-paste trees after the rainy season.

We have learned, however, that even when we can't see residual paste on the tree, the elephants do not eat it. They may scrape a small area to see if it is edible, but then they walk away from it. Baobabs that have been pasted must retain some residual taste or smell or something that remains even when the paste itself is not visible to the human eye.

So when we see evidence of elephant activity around the tree (dung piles, scratches on the tree) we don't re-paste because the original pasting is still effective at repelling the elephants from eating.