Status of Asian elephant and Human-elephant conflict (HEC) in Asia: A brief and updated review
Montez, D. and Leng, A., 2021. Status of Asian elephant and Human-elephant conflict (HEC) in Asia: A brief and updated review. Journal of Nature and Applied Research, 1(1), pp.28-35.
8 Pages Posted: 5 Oct 2021
Date Written: September 1, 2021
Abstract
The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), the only extant species of the genus Elephas which belongs to family Elephantidae of order Proboscidea is currently restricted to 13 countries in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia (Sukumar, 2006). The range of Asian elephant does not extend beyond India to the west and Borneo to the east. However, this species once roamed an extended range from western Asia to the east as far as the Yangtze River in China (Olivier, 1978; Sukumar, 2006). The Asian elephant has disappeared from 95% of its historical range and currently distributed in discontinuous populations (Sukumar, 2006). The largest population of Asian elephants is found in the mainland of India (24,000-33,000) followed by considerable populations in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia (>1000). Small populations can be observed in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and China (<1000) (Sukumar, 2006). According to Menon and Tiwari (2019) the current total population of Asian elephants in the world is c. 48,323–51,680 in the wild and c. 15,000 in captivity which spreads over an area of 486,800 km2. These figures give us a crude estimate of the population density of the species; ~0.10 individuals/km2 or 10 individuals per 100 km2. Given the body size of the Asian elephant, being the second largest terrestrial species of the world, this estimated density is considerably high and provides an indication how diminished and fragmented the populations are. Asia is also the most populated region of the world when human population is considered. Therefore, the obvious competition between the humans and elephants for the resources and habitats continues from the past to the present giving rise to the human-elephant conflict (HEC). With numerous threats mainly induced by habitat loss/fragmentation, poaching and HEC, the Asian elephant population has significantly declined by at least 50 percent over a period of less than 100 years (Sukumar, 1992). Therefore, E. maximus has been categorized as an endangered (EN) species (IUCN, 2021). This paper aims to briefly review the current status of Asian elephant and HEC in the present range of the species within different parts of Asia.
Keywords: Elephas maximus, elephant conservation, wildlife conflict, wildlife management, resource use
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