Wild Asian Elephants Elephas Maximus Research Articles

Wildlife managers ignore previous knowledge at great risk: the case of Rivaldo, the iconic wild Asian Elephant Elephas maximus L. of the Sigur Region, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

Management of wildlife depends mostly on scientific data; ignoring this can lead to unintended consequences. We take the case study of the wild male Asian Elephant Rivaldo of the Sigur Region, who was translocated out of his range. Rivaldo returned to his home range within a few days, which could have been expected if scientific publications had been consulted. We suggest that a simple checklist of relevant publications can help park managers to decide on a proper management procedure. We also used a simple Bayesian framework to visually show how the probability of predicting a management outcome is increased by prior knowledge. The expensive and risky effort to relocate the elephant could have been avoided altogether if prior knowledge had been taken into consideration.

Wild Asian elephant Elephas maximus population in Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

The population of wild Asian elephants Elephas maximus is declining worldwide; therefore, understanding the dynamics of the remaining population is critical for effective conser- vation. We monitored the population and distribution of elephants in Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand between May 2010 and March 2011. Using 32 camera trap locations and 1391 trap nights, we recorded 882 elephant photos. A total of 180 individuals were identified in the photos and classified as follows: 55 adult males, 60 adult females, 11 sub-adult males, 17 sub-adult females, 18 juveniles, and 19 calves. The age structure ratio (based on adult females) was 0.9 : 1.0 : 0.2 : 0.3 : 0.3 : 0.4, and the ratio of reproductive ability between adult females, juveniles, and calves was 1.0 : 0.3 : 0.3. The ratio between adult females and infants was highest in areas con- taining a high concentration of salt licks, which could indicate that salt licks are a keystone resource for wild Asian elephants.