An assessment of elephant home ranges and movement patterns during construction of Hulu Terengganu hydroelectric dam, Terengganu using GPS satellite collars

Abstract

Home ranges and movement patterns of elephants during construction of hydroelectric dams were carried out in Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. Two elephants from two herds were captured, collared and released in the catchment area four to five months before inundation started in early October 2014. The two elephants were identified as Puah (female) and Sireh (male). The home range size of each individual during the construction of dams was estimated at 96.53 km2 for Puah and 367.99 km2 for Sireh. The monthly estimates of ranging for Puah was between 5.1 km2 and 38.4 km2 with average monthly ranging of 19.2 ± 4.7, while for Sireh, the monthly ranging estimates were between 20.6 km2 and 184.7 km2 with average monthly ranging at 79.9 ± 34.7. The movement mean rate (based on distance per day) for Puah and Sireh per day were 1.3 ± 0.1 km and 1.9 ± 0.1 km, respectively. Puah movement estimates for the first day after putting the collar was 0.88 km, whereas, the distance movement for Sireh on the first day after the collar was 0.02 km. The total distance travelled for Puah before inundation was 226.18 km, while Sireh covered 267.38 km.