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topic: human-elephant conflict
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Analysis of largest elephant surveys ever shows stable population, but disturbing trends
- New research comparing data from the two largest-ever elephant surveys reveals the overall population in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is stable, but also uncovers some concerning local trends.
- Elephant numbers in Botswana, home to more elephants than any other country, are stable overall, but declining numbers in areas where hunting is permitted, and increasing numbers in protected areas, suggest underlying issues for Botswana’s elephants.
- Survey comparisons reveal that elephants have all but disappeared from the western Angolan section of the KAZA area, but a lack of local research, an issue across the region, means conservationists are unsure why.
- More research is needed across the transfrontier conservation area to ensure a safe future for the world’s largest elephant population.
Nepal’s human-wildlife conflict relief system hits roadblock with new guidelines
- New guidelines intended to streamline relief and compensation for human-wildlife conflict victims in Nepal have instead created a bottleneck in the process.
- Implementation challenges arise as forest offices lack budgets under the new arrangement, hindering their ability to provide compensation.
- Human-wildlife conflict remains a significant challenge in Nepal, with more than 200 fatalities reported in the past five years, prompting discussions on alternative solutions such as insurance-based schemes
Count, connect, conserve: Southern Africa elephant survey points the way (commentary)
- The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is the largest transboundary terrestrial conservation area in the world – spanning five countries in southern Africa, it is home to Africa’s largest savanna elephant population.
- A 2022 survey of KAZA’s elephants revealed an estimated 227,900 individuals, but their movement is increasingly blocked by fences and human settlements, pointing to the need for better habitat connections and corridors.
- “Now that KAZA’s elephants have been counted, the landscape’s key wildlife areas must be connected, so that elephants and other species can be better conserved,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Iconic tusker’s plight shows challenges in managing Sri Lanka’s wild elephants
- When an iconic Sri Lankan elephant was recently injured in the leg by a trap gun, the incident received wide attention and criticism over the island’s poor handling of wild elephants.
- Agbo is one of Sri Lanka’s largest elephants, and since June, a team of wildlife veterinary surgeons and support staff have been treating the tusker.
- With months among humans, Agbo started showing signs of habituation, losing his fear or mistrust of people and developing a taste for the food provided during treatment.
- From January to late November, Sri Lanka has lost 440 elephants, with gunshot injuries being the main cause for fatalities.
Nepal’s Madhesh province lacks in biodiversity research & conservation
- Madhesh province in Nepal, known as the “granary” of the country, faces significant challenges in biodiversity conservation and research due to a lack of focus and awareness.
- The region, primarily used for agriculture, experiences human-wildlife conflicts, including incidents like the mistaken killing of a leopard due to misconceptions about wildlife.
- Despite being rich in biodiversity, with various species of birds, mammals and traditional migratory paths of elephants, conservation efforts are hindered by the absence of a dedicated conservation agency and limited research initiatives.
- Experts emphasize the urgency of establishing a comprehensive strategic plan for wildlife conservation in Madhesh, highlighting the need to address habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflicts and unplanned urbanization.
Video: A sanctuary for elephants and forests in Cambodia
- The Elephant Valley Project in eastern Cambodia is a sanctuary where aging captive elephants can live out their days amid the forested foothills of the Annamite Mountains supported by tourism.
- But tourists stopped coming when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began and the world ceased traveling in 2020, leaving the project searching for ways to continue its work with the elephants and the nearby communities.
- Leaders of the project said it has provided jobs, education and health care support, and protection for a key area of mature forest along the edge of Keo Seima, Cambodia’s most biodiverse wildlife sanctuary.
- One possible avenue for funding may be the nearby REDD+ forest conservation project in Keo Seima, based on the protection of the forest from threats like illegal logging and hunting that the presence of the elephants and their mahouts has provided.
How wild elephants solve puzzles may help humans resolve wildlife conflicts
- Animal cognition scientists designed an open-air experiment to test wild elephants’ problem-solving abilities for the first time.
- They observed that Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand could figure out how to work doors that opened in three different ways: push, pull, and slide.
- Five out of 44 animals succeeded in opening all three doors, eight opened two doors, and another 11 opened one door.
- The study captured “individual variation in the problem-solving ability of wild elephants,” Lisa P. Barrett, an expert in animal cognition, told Mongabay. “If we know something about ‘problem individuals’ who are learning and spreading problematic behaviors, such as crop raiding, we may be able to design targeted intervention efforts that mitigate human-elephant conflict.”
Video: Rice as a peace offering in India’s human-elephant conflict capital
- Assam state in northeastern India, where farmers and elephants jostle for space and food, has one of the highest incidences of human-elephant conflict in the country.
- Conservationists from Hati Bondhu, a nonprofit organization, are working with farmers in Assam’s Golaghat district to pursue a more peaceful human-elephant coexistence.
- Their first experimental project, which was to grow rice in some fields dedicated to elephants so farmers could harvest separately elsewhere, was a success.
- They’re now planning solutions to overcome the limitations of this short-term project, involving more villages and planting more species outside of farmlands in large-scale projects.
Balancing elephant conservation and community needs: Q&A with award-winning ranger Fetiya Ousman
- The harsh environment of Ethiopia’s Babile Elephant Sanctuary is characterized by intense competition for resources, particularly water and land, between elephants and people.
- Expanding human settlements and poaching are fragmenting areas where endangered elephants range, while elephants at times destroy community crops in search of food or space.
- This daily struggle for survival is exacerbating conflicts between humans and elephants, with nine community members and six elephants killed in violent encounters this year alone.
- To dive into the human-elephant conflicts boiling over in this sanctuary and know how rangers maneuver this tricky reality, Mongabay speaks with the sanctuary’s award-winning chief ranger, Fetiya Ousman.
A forest gave Cambodia’s captive elephants a new life. Now they’re paying it back
- Until 2020, the Elephant Valley Project in eastern Cambodia had developed into a self-sustaining sanctuary where aging captive elephants could live out their days amid the forested foothills of the Annamite Mountains.
- Leaders of the project say it provided jobs, education and health care support, and protection for a key area of mature forest along the edge of Keo Seima, Cambodia’s most biodiverse wildlife sanctuary.
- But tourists stopped coming when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began and the world ceased traveling in 2020, leaving the project searching for ways to continue its work with the elephants and the nearby communities. Visitors have begun to return, though not yet in the numbers prior to the pandemic.
- Site leaders say one possible avenue for funding may be the nearby REDD+ forest conservation project in Keo Seima. They argue that the sustained presence of elephants and their mahouts has helped protect the forest from threats like illegal logging and the deforestation that has pressed ever closer as the human population in the region has grown.
Elephant encounters rattle farmers in Indonesia’s Jambi province
- On the island of Sumatra, oil palm farmers blame a pair of translocated elephants for a rampage they say caused the worst damage to their crops in a decade.
- The two bull elephants were translocated in an effort to get them to breed with local females.
- Only 924-1,359 elephants are thought to remain in the wilds of Sumatra, a decline of more than half over a decade prior.
As human-wildlife conflict simmers, Nepal revises compensation program
- Nepal has updated its guidelines for compensation for people affected by human-wildlife conflict.
- The new rules expand eligibility for compensation to damage or injury caused by 16 species of wildlife, up from 14 previously.
- They also cover loss of fish and poultry, as well as extend the claim period for compensation due to death.
- More than 200 Nepalis have been killed in the past five years due to human-wildlife conflict, a result of the country’s growing human population and successful conservation initiatives.
Bangladesh captive elephant death by train highlights need for conservation
- Captive elephants have a long history. In the 19th century, wild elephants were abundant throughout the Bengal, frequently raiding crop fields. Several landholders kept tame female elephants as decoys for capturing these wild elephants.
- Research reveals that 1,534 wild elephants were captured in present-day Bangladesh between 1868 and 1985, while 916 elephants were captured in Dhaka Hill (Madhupur) from 1878-80.
- Now, there are more than 100 captive Asian elephants in Bangladesh, which often face brutality by their owners, but authorities are yet to take measures to protect them.
- Experts suggest establishing an elephant orphanage to conserve captive and hapless elephants, including injured or sick ones, which will also help promote tourism in Bangladesh.
In north Bangladesh, human-elephant conflicts signal need for greater protection
- At least four people have been killed in wild elephant attacks in Bangladesh in the last few weeks, three of them in the northern Sherpur district.
- At least one elephant was also killed by locals via electrification after a herd of wild elephants roamed the area for food.
- Of the 12 elephant corridors in Bangladesh, Sherpur is the only corridor that has seen a rise in attacks, as the government and other conservation organizations focused their efforts in the southern zone, where the other 11 corridors are located.
- Conservationists blame the scarcity of adequate resources and funding for proper management of conservation activities, resulting in the continuation of conflicts and killings.
One elephant a day: Sri Lanka wildlife conflict deepens as death toll rises
- Sri Lanka recorded at least one elephant death a day in the first quarter of 2023, nearly half of them due to human causes, putting the country on track for a record death toll from human-elephant conflict.
- Various approaches adopted since 1959 to tackle the problem have only aggravated the issue or failed to solve it, experts say.
- A national plan formulated in 2020 to mitigate the problem has not been fully implemented due to a lack of funding.
- Wildlife conservationists say that up to 70% of wild elephants could die unless effective measures are urgently adopted.
Mating urge adds new pressure to human-elephant conflict in Nepal
- Domesticated elephants kept in or near human settlements are a magnet for wild male elephants from Nepal’s Chitwan National Park.
- The males, looking to mate, often cause injury or property damage when entering these settlements, compounding the already severe problem of human-elephant conflict in Nepal.
- Elephant welfare activists say the government should establish a sanctuary where all domesticated elephants can roam in relative freedom away from human settlements.
- However, the government says it doesn’t have the resources or land for such a scheme, and that the welfare of the domesticated elephants is the responsibility of their private owners.
Sri Lanka seeks lasting solution as human-elephant conflict takes record toll
- The death toll, both human and elephant, from Sri Lanka’s long-running human-elephant conflict problem hit a record high in 2022, with 145 people and 433 elephants killed.
- With the trend worsening in recent years, the government has recently set up a committee to implement a 2020 draft national action plan to tackle the problem from various angles.
- Community fences surrounding villages and cultivated plots are considered the most viable solution over the current default of fences enclosing protected areas, which are only administrative boundaries that the elephants don’t recognize.
- But these and other proposed solutions won’t be rolled out widely; Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis means only pilot projects in two of the worst-affected districts will go ahead for now.
In Nepal, officials defend detusking to reduce human-elephant conflict
- Conservation officials in Nepal recently cut off the tusks of a young bull elephant that had attacked and killed a woman in the buffer zone of Parsa National Park.
- Proponents of detusking say the practice helps make the animals less aggressive, while critics say the effects are little-understood and detusking should be a last resort in tackling human-wildlife conflict.
- A study on African elephants shows that detusked elephants don’t appear to be at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing food, while another shows that detusked matriarch elephants command smaller herds and may be considered less reproductively fit by males.
- Back in Nepal, officials say the practice works, noting that the recently detusked male hasn’t been seen in the area since then.
If there’s an elephant in the room, that’s because it’s not in a protected area
- A newly published study shows that elephants in Malaysia prefer habitats found outside of protected areas, with most of the elephants observed having more than half their home range outside protected areas.
- The main reason for this is that their preferred foods are more abundant in the kind of disturbed landscapes that humans create, such as plantations or secondary
- The study’s findings have important implications for Asian elephant conservation, showing that the current network of protected areas alone isn’t enough and that human-wildlife conflict needs to be managed.
Video: Life in the awe-and-terror-inspiring vicinity of the Sumatran elephant
- Villagers living on the forest’s edge in Indonesia often marvel at the intelligence of elephants, even as they struggle to keep the animals from trampling their farms and homes.
- Sumatra has lost around half its rainforest since the turn of the century, driving the forest-dwelling creatures into increasing contact with humans.
- Watch our short film Indonesians on the front lines of human-elephant conflict in northwestern Sumatra.
In Vietnam, farmers show a willingness to work with the elephant in the room
- Human-wildlife conflict is a threat to species such as the Asian elephant and to the livelihoods and well-being of people living in the vicinity of these animals.
- Researchers in Vietnam have found that people living around the country’s Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve were broadly supportive of measures to support coexistence with elephants.
- Some community members — those with lower incomes, farmers, and those who had experienced conflict — showed a greater willingness to support coexistence measures.
- The study outlines possible routes to foster coexistence based around community-based ecotourism, prevention and mitigation.
Podcast: With less than 10 years to save Sumatran elephants, what’s being done?
- The provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh in Indonesia’s embattled and highly deforested island of Sumatra are some of the last holdouts for the critically endangered Sumatran elephant.
- With the clock running out to save them, and extractive industries like oil palm fragmenting their habitat, pushing them to the brink, villagers are taking measures into their own hands by reducing human-elephant conflict to save the species from further harm.
- Also in North Sumatra lies a controversial planned hydroelectric dam site in the last habitat of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan, a project that has also claimed 16 human lives in less than two years.
- On the Mongabay Newscast this week, Leif Cocks, founder of the International Elephant Project and the Orangutan Project, weighs in on the status of the Sumatran elephant and the Tapanuli orangutan.
Sri Lanka fuel shortage takes massive toll on efforts to save wildlife
- Sri Lanka continues to face the brunt of the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, with depleted foreign reserves resulting in acute fuel shortages nationwide.
- The shortages and limited rations are affecting conservation efforts, including the timely treatment of wild animals, regular patrolling to thwart poaching, and mitigation actions to limit human-elephant conflict.
- Fuel allocations for the wildlife conservation department have been halved, and both wildlife and forest officials say this has made operations extremely difficult.
- The threat of forest fires also looms as the dry season gets underway, which typically calls for more patrols to prevent burning by poachers and forest encroachers.
Photos: Meet the Indonesians on the front lines of human-elephant conflict in Sumatra
- At the northern tip of Sumatra, villagers deal with herds of elephants entering their villages and eating their crops.
- Incidents of human-wildlife conflict have intensified as more of the elephants’ habitat is razed for oil palm plantations and other developments.
- In the village of Cot Girek, locals have formed their own patrol team to head off these incursions.
‘Chased from every side’: Sumatran elephants pinned down by forest loss
- Sumatran elephants in Indonesia’s North Aceh district are being increasingly pinned down in shrinking patches of forest amid the ongoing destruction of their habitat, primarily for oil palm plantations.
- This is driving an increase in human-elephant conflict, with the animals forced into more frequent encounters with villagers, who resent them for destroying their crops and homes.
- Conservationists say deforestation in the district overlaps with the elephants’ migration routes and could grow worse under local government policies.
Bangladesh struggles to protect the last of its last wild elephants
- Habitat loss, forest degradation and encroachment into forest reserves are driving Asian elephants into human habitats in search of food, increasing human-elephant conflicts.
- In 2016, there were only 268 resident Asian elephants in Bangladesh; more than 50 have been killed in the past five years, 34 of them in 2021 alone.
- Bangladesh has 12 identified elephant corridors, although at least one no longer serves that function due to forest degradation, human settlements, grabbing of forest land and unplanned development.
- The Forest Department has designed a new conservation project to protect the endangered species, including through stronger law enforcement and habitat restoration.
Saving Sumatran elephants starts with counting them. Indonesia won’t say how many are left
- Efforts to save the Sumatran elephant have been hamstrung by the Indonesian government’s delay in releasing an updated conservation plan, which includes the latest population estimates.
- The last estimate, from 2007, put the population at 2,400-2,800 elephants, but that was based on data from the early 2000s.
- Mongabay has obtained a copy of the updated plan, meant to be released in 2019, which gives a population estimate of 924-1,359 — a precipitous decline of 52-62% from the 2007 figure.
- Conservationists, including one who worked on the plan, have called for its publication to inform conservation measures, and note that similar plans for other iconic threatened species — including Sumatran tigers and orangutans — have also been delayed.
‘Unprecedented crisis’ for Nepal’s elephants: Q&A with conservationist Ashok Ram
- Conflict with humans is considered the biggest threat to Asian elephants in Nepal, says veteran conservationist Ashok Ram.
- Encounters between villagers and elephants typically occur when they stray into each other’s areas in search of food.
- Ram says there needs to be a landscape-level management approach to elephant conservation, given that the animals move freely between Nepal and India.
- In an interview with Mongabay, he explains the history of habitat fragmentation, why electric fences aren’t a solution to human-elephant conflict, and why mid-afternoon is the most dangerous time for encounters.
Export of elephants to UAE drags Namibia wildlife policy into the spotlight
- Conservation groups have slammed the Namibian government’s decision to capture 22 wild elephants and export them to zoos in the United Arab Emirates.
- They contend the animals were taken from a fragile, desert-adapted population herd, and that splitting up the group this way affects the welfare of both the captured elephants and those left behind.
- The government denies this, and has justified the export as a solution to the human-wildlife conflict that’s the flip side of decades of successful conservation policy.
- One of the recipients of the elephants in the UAE, Al Ain Zoo, is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria; the latter has expressed concern over the deal’s “extreme lack of transparency” and said Al Ain Zoo could face unspecified sanctions.
Poor waste management turns dump sites into death traps for Sri Lanka’s elephants
- Across Sri Lanka, municipal waste is regularly discarded in open garbage dumps, many of which are located near protected areas and other wildlife habitat, drawing elephants there in search of food.
- The deaths of several such foraging elephants has garnered global attention, thanks to a recent AP news report tweeted out by Leonardo DiCaprio, but local conservationists say they’ve been warning about the problem for a long time.
- A former head of the Department of Wildlife Conservation says decisions on where to establish new dump sites often ignore wildlife concerns, driven by “short-sighted, politically motivated” planning.
- But just keeping the elephants out of the dumps isn’t a solution; many of these animals are accustomed to raiding local farms for crops — a habit that they very quickly return to when dump sites are shut down, leading to yet another problem of human-elephant conflict.
Can we plan for a future without trophy hunting? (commentary)
- Proposed legislation in Britain to ban the import of hunting trophies like horns, antlers, and tusks enjoys popular support.
- But in Africa, rural communities often rely on revenue from trophy hunting to support development and conservation projects.
- In response to a recent Mongabay commentary, “UK trophy hunting import ban not supported by rural Africans,” writer Merrill Sapp argues that it’s possible to have both development and healthy elephant populations, without hunting.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Thai tourism elephants are ‘far better off’ in forests: Q&A with photographer Adam Oswell
- Following the collapse of tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of Thailand’s 2,700 captive elephants used for tourism trekked back to rural villages alongside their keepers, where it was hoped they could forage naturally.
- Two years later, international visitors are beginning to return to the country and a new tourism model is emerging in locations where community-managed forests are available to the elephants.
- Under the new model, elephants are granted access to community forests, where they can forage and explore their natural behaviors. Meanwhile, tourists keen to learn about elephants in a natural setting are beginning to visit, enabling people in the villages to generate income.
- Adam Oswell, a photographer who has been documenting wildlife trade and protection in Asia for more than 20 years, spoke with Mongabay recently about his work documenting these projects and the fate of Thailand’s tourism elephants.
In plan for African wildlife corridors, there’s more than one elephant in the room
- An ambitious plan by a conservation NGO calls for linking up elephant habitats throughout East and Southern Africa by establishing wildlife corridors.
- But the “Room to Roam” plan, still at the conceptual stage, faces the difficult challenge of getting the agreement of thousands of private, traditional and public landowners.
- Other conservationists say the plan by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, while the ideal to work toward, fails to address how it would tackle human-elephant conflict or why landowners should go along.
- Savanna elephants are now restricted to just 14% of their former range, often isolated pockets in national parks, forest reserves and wildlife conservancies.
UK trophy hunting import ban not supported by rural Africans (commentary)
- While a UK bill to ban the import of hunting trophies enjoys popular support there, rural Africans directly affected by such decisions are voicing opposition.
- Researchers tasked by the Namibian government surveyed local people and conservation leaders with insight on the challenges and benefits of elephant conservation.
- Animal rights campaigners “must take responsibility for the damages caused by elephants. They should come and experience what is happening on the ground. It is not easy to live with wild animals and not benefit from them,” one respondent argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
DNA assessment confirms Gabon as last stronghold of forest elephants
- A new survey has found that there are more than 95,000 critically endangered forest elephants in Gabon, which is considered to be the last remaining stronghold for the species.
- The researchers came to this estimate after collecting elephant dung samples across Gabon and analyzing each sample’s genetic material.
- The survey found that forest elephants were present in about 90% of the country, in both protected and nonprotected areas.
- Forest elephants have been heavily poached in Gabon in the last couple of decades, with 25,000 killed in Gabon’s Minkébé National Park alone between 2004 and 2014.
Jaw bombs, the deadliest threat to Sri Lanka’s elephants, are scaling up
- Hakka patas, an improvised explosive device that detonates when bit, is the number one killer of elephants in Sri Lanka.
- The first reports of these “jaw bombs” emerged in 2008, and although the main target of poachers is wild boars, there have been an increasing number of instances where elephants are targeted.
- The jaw bombs are made by the hunters themselves from widely available supplies and sold to farmers at the village level, making it difficult to crack down on the practice.
- With Sri Lanka’s fireworks industry suffering massive job losses under the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are warning of a possible increase in skilled workers turning to make hakka patas.
Outcry in Sri Lanka as suspected elephant kidnappers get to keep the animals
- Conservationists have slammed a move by a Sri Lanka court to return 14 endangered elephants to the suspected traffickers they were originally seized from in 2015.
- The elephants are part of a group of 38 confiscated by the Department of Wildlife Conservation following an investigation that revealed the widespread kidnapping of elephant calves from the wild for use in cultural events, tourism attractions, and even just as status symbols.
- The release, ordered by a court this past September, has been criticized as a “move to regularize theft,” with conservationists alleging the influence of the “elephant mafia” pervades the highest ranks of power in government and politics.
- Today, there are 210 elephants in captivity in Sri Lanka: 102 in state-owned facilities, and the rest held by private keepers, including high-profile individuals and Buddhist clergy.
You can move an elephant to the jungle, but it won’t stay there, study says
- Despite evidence that translocating “problem elephants” into protected forests to avoid conflict with humans can in fact exacerbate problems, it is still commonly practiced.
- A study published earlier this year revealed that elephants in Peninsular Malaysia prefer open, human-dominated landscapes over primary forests, casting further doubt over translocations, since relocated elephants will tend to gravitate back toward these “prime” habitats where conflict recurs.
- The study sparked renewed discussion among researchers on effective, long-term solutions to human-elephant conflict, the leading threat to Asian elephants, that avoid translocations.
- Experts say that people’s willingness to co-exist with elephants will be the most influential factor in the long-term survival of the species.
On World Elephant Day (and every day) humans should stay away from wildlife (commentary)
- Though we appreciate wild animals like elephants on World Elephant Day (August 12) and every day, travelers and the tourism industry need to stop seeking and promoting hands-on experiences with wild animals, a new op-ed by an elephant researcher argues.
- When humans insist upon touching, feeding, and taking photos with wild animals like elephants, it changes their behavior in ways that can be dangerous, as in the cases of begging for food and habituation.
- The COVID era underscores this: humans have become vectors for the disease, and both wild and captive animals have caught it, so we should exercise caution and limit interactions especially with endangered species.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Sri Lanka seeks peace with pachyderms as human-elephant conflicts escalate
- Sri Lankan authorities have declared the establishment of a managed elephant reserve (MER) in the southern district of Hambantota in an effort to tackle the worsening problem of human-elephant conflicts (HEC).
- The MER was initially proposed in 2009, but not implemented since then, allowing human encroachment onto land that was supposed to have been preserved as elephant habitat.
- With the MER in force, human activity inside elephant habitat will be minimized, in a bid to reduce the rate of human-elephant conflicts.
- However, a leading conservationist warns the MER will only stop the conflicts from getting worse, but won’t reduce them, for which further containment measures will be needed.
Humans are biggest factor defining elephant ranges across Africa, study finds
- A recently published study that analyzed movement data from 229 elephants has found that human influence and protected areas are main factors determining the size of elephant ranges.
- Protected areas alone are not large enough to provide space for elephants, and elephants living outside them are under pressure from expanding human populations.
- Finding ways for elephants to coexist with humans, including through proper planning of wildlife areas and corridors, will be key to ensuring that elephant populations have a future.
China’s efforts to accommodate ‘wandering elephants’ is overshadowed by its conflict with elephants elsewhere (commentary)
- William F. Laurance, distinguished research professor and Australian laureate at James Cook University, provides his take on a herd of 15 Asian elephants that is making headlines as it moves northward from China’s border with Myanmar and Laos.
- “No one knows exactly where the elephants are going, or why,” Laurance writes. “But two things are clear: the elephants were probably struggling to survive in their native habitat, and Chinese efforts to save the elephants clash with the nation’s aggressive strategies of investment and global development.”
- Laurance argues that while China’s efforts to accommodate this particular herd of elephants is notable, its activities beyond its borders are jeopardizing the continued survival of the species. He cites habitat destruction at home, large-scale infrastructure projects abroad, and fueling demand for the ivory trade as examples.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Farmers move to occupy a critical elephant corridor in Sri Lanka
- Dahaiyagala Wildlife Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Uva province links several wilderness areas and serves as an important corridor for elephants.
- But a recently attempted land grab has raised concerns that this lifeline for the region’s elephants could soon disappear.
- The elephant population of Udawalawe, Sri Lanka’s second-most visited national park, moves seasonally in and out of the area of the park through this vital corridor because the park alone isn’t able to support a large number of elephants.
- Blocking the corridor could increase human-elephant conflict, and it could also create socio-economic problems for hundreds of families who depend on nature-based tourism around Udawalawe.
Namibia to sell off wild elephants in controversial auction
- Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) plans to finalize an auction of 170 of its wild elephants on Friday, January 29.
- The auction has been met with sharp criticism by conservationists who have questioned the population data and claims of human-elephant conflict that are being used to justify the sale.
- MEFT has argued that the auction is necessitated by a tripling in the country’s elephant population from about 7,500 in 1995 to about 24,000 individuals today, which the ministry asserts is damaging ecosystems, increasing the incidence of conflict between pachyderms and farmers, and heightening the risk of poaching.
- Conservationists however dispute that data.
Podcast: With just 10 years left to save Sumatran elephants, what can be done now?
- In Sumatra, elephants’ forested habitat has been replaced recently at a rapid pace for commercial activities like oil palm plantations, pulp and paper production, and other uses.
- The total Sumatran elephant population was estimated to be no more than 2,800 individuals in 2007, but they likely number about half that now.
- It’s been said that there’s just 10 years left to save this critically endangered species, and experts that Mongabay spoke with say that this is probably optimistic: however, taking the meaningful actions they suggest could succeed during that time and would have additional benefits for other wildlife plus human communities, too.
- This podcast is the latest in the Mongabay Explores series, taking a deep dive into the fascinating wildlife and complicated conservation issues of this giant Indonesian island.
For Sumatran elephant conservation, involvement of local people is key (commentary)
- For critically endangered Sumatran elephants, a long-term conservation strategy must include community involvement in mitigating human-elephant conflict, in addition to securing viable habitats.
- Any successful conflict mitigation should raise the awareness of–and gain acceptance from–the local community, requiring adequate support from governments and conservation NGOs.
- Only when viable habitats and community involvement are both ensured will the well-being of the local people, as well as the conservation of Sumatran elephants, be secured.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
On plantations and in ‘protected’ areas, Sumatran elephants keep turning up dead
- In Sumatra’s Riau province, 93% of known elephant habitat is in forests where commercial and industrial activity is permitted.
- In the past five years, at least seven elephants have been found dead in pulp and paper concessions controlled by affiliates of industry giants Asia Pulp & Paper and the APRIL group.
- Many of these elephants are believed to have been killed by poachers, who activists say can easily enter and leave concession sites. Activists call on concession holders to do more to protect the animals who range on land under company management.
- Please note: this article contains graphic descriptions and images that could be upsetting to some readers.
Herd opportunity: Hundreds of elephants return to DRC’s Virunga
- A group of about 580 savanna elephants recently returned to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after crossing over from Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.
- The reappearance of the elephants brings hope to a park that’s been beset with civil unrest, violence, and poaching for decades.
- In May, Virunga National Park closed due to the spread of COVID-19, which caused serious financial damage to the park.
Gorongosa National Park is being reforested via coffee and agroforestry
- Gorongosa National Park is reforesting itself with the help of shade-grown coffee and other agroforestry crops.
- Marketed internationally, Gorongosa Coffee and other related ventures employ many local and indigenous people via this regenerative form of agriculture.
- The park’s plantings are beneficial to wildlife, too: in addition to birds that frequently visit the agroforests, these plots are home to numerous species including a couple new-to-science ones which have just been described, including a species of bat.
- Agroforestry is the intentional planting of crops like coffee and cashew among other woody perennials such as rainforest trees, in this example: this kind of agriculture also sequesters much carbon from the atmosphere, which helps slow climate change.
In Sumatra, forest edge communities must be at the center of conservation efforts (commentary)
- Forest-edge communities in North Sumatra, Indonesia, are on the front lines when it comes to nature conservation efforts, and require greater support and social protection from the government and NGOs.
- With the failure of ecotourism in the wake of COVID-19, safeguarding community well-being requires more focus on diversification of sustainable livelihoods, and a sound strategy for the prevention of human-wildlife conflict.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
New artificial intelligence could save both elephant and human lives
- RESOLVE recently debuted the WildEyes AI system, a tiny camera imbued with artificial intelligence that can be trained to recognize specific animals in the field.
- The first version of WildEyes is trained to recognize elephants, which often come into conflict with humans when they raid crops and enter villages.
- RESOLVE says WildEyes can sound an early alarm to help prepare villagers to repel elephants.
- In the future, it may also be used to notify biologists of rare or invasive species, stop poachers, or prevent illegal logging.
Photo Essay: In search of Sri Lanka’s vanishing tuskers
- Sri Lanka is home to an estimated 7,500 elephants, which is about 10% of elephants that live in Asia. They live on about 2% of the country’s land area, and a little more than 7% of male elephants bear tusks.
- Tuskers are exposed to more harm than other elephants, even though poaching for ivory is not common in Sri Lanka. As time has passed, seeing tuskers in the wild parts of Sri Lanka has become a rarity.
- More than 400 elephants have died in Sri Lanka in the past year. The country has the world’s highest number of elephant deaths and the second-highest number of human fatalities due to human-elephant conflict after India. Nearly two-thirds of Sri Lanka’s elephants live outside protected areas.
- The views expressed in this essay are those of the photographer, not necessarily Mongabay.
Problem pachyderms? ‘Geofencing’ helps reduce Sri Lanka’s human-elephant conflict
- In the past two decades, Sri Lankan scientists have pioneered an effort to track the movements of more than 100 elephants using GPS satellite tracking collars.
- Panu Kota, one of the last two remaining elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) living in the UNESCO World Heritage Sinharaja Forest Reserve, was GPS satellite collared in June 2019, enabling authorities to receive a signal whenever the roaming elephant enters nearby villages and to make timely interventions to reduce confrontations between the transgressing elephant and villagers.
- Data generated through the radio tracking system has shown that elephant translocations have failed because elephants regularly return to their home range, requiring new solutions to mitigate human-elephant conflict.
- Authorities say the elephant tracking data can help develop mechanisms to minimize human-elephant conflict by shedding light on the animals’ movements and identifying areas not often visited by elephants for development and agriculture.
Myanmar ponders what to do with its out-of-work elephants
- As the Myanmar government moves to rein in deforestation, thousands of captive elephants trained to haul logs in Myanmar may lose the care and protection they received when working.
- A government body that owns more than 2,900 captive elephants has turned to ecotourism to raise funds to care for the elephants, but it’s not enough.
- Releasing the elephants into the wild presents its own difficulties, including increased risks of human-wildlife conflict and poaching.
- Private owners, strapped for cash, may be forced to kill their elephant and sell its parts, or sell it alive to another country.
Less force, more kindness as Sri Lanka tries to defuse human-elephant conflict
- Several different methods attempted over the past 70 years to mitigate human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka have proved ineffective, experts say.
- With more than 300 elephants and 70 people killed in 2018 alone, and a third of the island effectively elephant country, Sri Lanka is mired in an escalating crisis trying to balance its developmental and conservation needs.
- Conservationists have called for designing development programs that account for elephant impact assessments, and abandoning translocations and other control methods in favor of electric fencing that has proven more effective.
Seven elephants found dead as Sri Lanka’s human-wildlife conflict escalates
- Authorities have launched an investigation into the suspected poisoning deaths of seven elephants last month in Sri Lanka.
- Human-elephant conflict caused by habitat loss has long been a problem on the country, with both the elephant and human death tolls climbing in recent years.
- Investigations into previous elephant deaths have failed to hold anyone liable, and conservationists say they fear the recent spate of deaths will also go unpunished.
- Conservationists say the root causes for human-elephant conflict need to be removed or mitigated, including through community-based electric fencing, increased manpower for the wildlife department, and conservation of elephant habitat.
Seven elephants found dead as Sri Lanka’s human-wildlife conflict escalates
- Authorities have launched an investigation into the suspected poisoning deaths of seven elephants last month in Sri Lanka.
- Human-elephant conflict caused by habitat loss has long been a problem on the country, with both the elephant and human death tolls climbing in recent years.
- Investigations into previous elephant deaths have failed to hold anyone liable, and conservationists say they fear the recent spate of deaths will also go unpunished.
- Conservationists say the root causes for human-elephant conflict need to be removed or mitigated, including through community-based electric fencing, increased manpower for the wildlife department, and conservation of elephant habitat.
Beehive fences can help mitigate human-elephant conflict
- Crop-raiding by elephants can devastate small farmers, leading to food insecurity, lost opportunity costs, and even death, as well as negative attitudes towards elephants, but finding effective and inexpensive solutions has proven extremely difficult.
- Beehive fences—surrounding crops fields with beehives attached to fence posts and strung together with wires—may serve as a humane and eco-friendly way to protect crops from elephants.
- Repeated farm-level trials have demonstrated benefits to farmers of using beehive fences, including fewer elephants approaching their fields and, for communities willing to manage the bees, production of “elephant-friendly” honey. However, the strategy doesn’t work everywhere: it requires management by farmers and willingness of bees to occupy at least some of the hives, and appropriate length and positioning to dissuade elephants from just walking around them.
- Beehive fences have benefited farmers in several East African countries, and projects elsewhere have begun to test them as well, but several uncertainties, including their success at a scale that doesn’t just displace the elephants to the first unfenced farm, suggest they should still be used with other techniques as part of a toolkit to reduce human-elephant conflict.
The Pan Borneo Highway on a collision course with elephants
- Out of the controversy surrounding the Pan Borneo Highway and its potential impacts on the environment has arisen a movement to bring conservationists, scientists and planners together to develop a plan “to maximize benefits and reduce risks” to the environment from the road’s construction.
- The chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo has called for the highway to avoid cutting through forests.
- But a planned stretch would slice through a protected forest reserve with a dense concentration of elephants.
- A coalition of scientific and civil society organizations has offered an alternative route that its members say would still provide the desired connection while lowering the risk of potentially deadly human-wildlife conflict.
Asian elephants gang up in a bid to survive an increasingly human world
- Adolescent elephants in south India are adapting to human-dominated landscapes, probably to learn from older bulls how not to get killed by people.
- These unusual associations, which can last for several years, were not recorded 20 years ago.
- Researchers say it’s important to use this information to mitigate human-elephant conflict, including by not removing old bulls that don’t raid crops, which can pass down this behavior to young elephants.
In East Africa, spread of sickle bush drives conflict with wildlife
- The rapid spread of sickle bush is causing habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict in East Africa.
- Experts don’t yet know why this native plant is spreading, but animals from elephants to gazelles dislike it and seek food in farms like those neighboring Randilen Wildlife Management Area in Tanzania.
- Methods ranging from burning to chemicals have been suggested to deal with the issue.
- Until the bush’s spread is slowed, crude methods ranging from flashlights to fireworks will continue to be employed to keep wildlife clear of crops.
Reducing human-elephant encounters with calls, texts, and digital signs
- The Hassan district of Karnataka, India has been a hotbed of human-elephant encounters for years and a challenge for forest authorities, who have been translocating crop-raiding elephants for decades.
- Researchers have replicated an elephant alert system that combines signs, voice calls, and text messaging used in the elephant corridors of neighboring Tamil Nadu’s Valparai region to reduce negative interactions between people and elephants in Hassan.
- Using familiar technologies, the new system has reduced annual human fatalities in the region from several to nearly zero.
In Sumatra, a lone elephant leads rescuers on a cat-and-mouse chase
- Conservationists recently tried to relocate a wild elephant from one forest on the island of Sumatra to another.
- The elephant’s original home, the Bukit Tigapuluh forest, has been heavily fragmented by human activity, pushing the animals within into nearby villages.
- The elephant, a female named Karina, is the last remaining member of her herd.
Tracking elephant movements reveals transboundary wildlife corridors
- Data from satellite tracking tags on 120 elephants in southern Africa have identified a suite of wildlife movement corridors across five southern African countries, suggesting the importance of cross-border coordination.
- Wide-ranging movements of elephants include dispersal from northern Botswana north into Angola and south toward the Kalahari Desert.
- Research findings have suggested that open and unimpeded movement corridors can help reduce conflict with human residents while blocked corridors can push elephants and other wildlife into new developments or villages, resulting in increased conflict.
Creating corridors: researchers use GPS telemetry data to map elephants’ movements
- Elephant corridors in the Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem are threatened by human development, which has fragmented habitat and intensified human-elephant conflict.
- With GPS telemetry data from three bull elephants, researchers mapped the elephants’ habitat use and connectivity from 2006-2008 and compared it to data from 1960 using new analysis techniques.
- The expansion of agriculture and villages decreased corridor connectivity and disrupted elephants’ movements, according to results of a circuit theory model.
As forests disappear, human-elephant conflict escalates in Nepal
- Asian elephants are responsible for destroying crops, buildings, and even injuring or killing local people in Nepal.
- A new study argues that Nepal’s government has not done enough to help villages in elephant areas.
- Researchers measured the willingness-to-pay of villagers in offsetting elephant damage.
Nepal tests fencing approach to protect farms and elephants
- With people and wildlife co-existing ever more closely, conflict situations often arise. What to do? Shooting animals is a frequent solution. In Nepal, an alternative approach is tried.
- The Himalayan Tiger Foundation is working with the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), WWF-Nepal and the authorities of Bardiya National Park to test a new approach for keeping elephants and people separated.
- An electric fence has been developed that should stop elephants from raiding people’s crops and houses, but allow other wildlife, people and cattle to pass through unhindered.
- Fences only work where communities support and maintain them. Getting this support is not easy. Co-financing schemes appear necessary to create the required sense of ownership from communities.
Off-the-shelf hobby drones are helping save elephants in Tanzania
- Since late 2014, quadcopter drones have been used by local rangers to safely shepherd elephants away from farms and communities.
- Researchers with Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit RESOLVE’s Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions program, the Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), and the Mara Elephant Project conducted 51 field trials of drones in farmland bordering Tanzania’s Tarangire and Serengeti National Parks.
- According to the study, rangers who have flown over 120 flights in response to calls about elephants intruding on community and farming lands have yet to witness signs of decline in the drones’ efficacy, even with repeat-offender elephants who have been confronted with drones multiple times.
Bringing field surveys into the modern, mobile world
- Open Data Kit, a set of free and open-source survey tools, can integrate GPS locations, photos, videos and audio files into customized forms, while also working off-the-grid.
- Users can transfer data collected in the field from the mobile device to a server and upload to Excel, Google Maps, or more sophisticated statistical analysis software.
- Open Data Kit requires electricity to charge mobile devices, as well as the physical presence of surveyors to conduct the interviews, but its use can simplify data processing.
The best defense is a good bee-fence
- Beehive fences, a technology developed by Dr. Lucy King, is now in use in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Sri Lanka and being investigated in India and Malawi.
- Researchers are leveraging the bee-elephant dynamic to find new ways to protect economically valuable trees and crops.
- Robin Cook, a student at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa is testing suspending beehives in marula trees as elephant deterrents.
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