New elephant crisis in Asia—Early warning signs from Myanmar

Abstract

In the southern Bago Yoma mountain range in Myanmar, Asian elephants are being killed at a disturbing rate. This emerging crisis was identified initially through a telemetry study when 7 of 19 of collared elephants were poached within a year of being fitted with a satellite-GPS collar. Subsequent follow up of ground teams confirmed the human caused death or disappearance of at least 19 elephants, including the seven collared individuals, within a 35 km2 area in less than two years. The carcasses of 40 additional elephants were found in areas located across south-central Myanmar once systematic surveys began by our team and collaborators. In addition to the extreme rate of loss, this study documents the targeting of elephants for their skin instead of the more common ivory, an increasing trend in Myanmar. Intensive research programs focused on other conservation problems identified this issue and are now encouraging local authorities to prioritize anti-poaching efforts and improve conservation policies within the country. Myanmar represents one of the last remaining countries in Asia with substantial wildlands suitable for elephants. Increasing rates of human-elephant conflict and poaching events in this country pose a dire threat to the global population.

Commonalities in Management and Husbandry Factors Important for Health and Welfare of Captive Elephants in North America and Thailand

“…Elephants are vital keystone, umbrella, and flagship species and have significant impacts on ecosystems and the species therein, in addition to raising awareness for conservation action [1,2]. Despite their importance, however, wild Asian elephants are endangered because of human-elephant conflict, habitat destruction, and poaching for ivory, skin, and other products [3]. About a third of Asian elephants today are managed under human care, used in religious, cultural, educational, and tourist activities [4].…”

Zoo elephant research: contributions to conservation of captive and free‐ranging species

“…Both African elephants -Savanna elephants Loxodonta africana and Forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotisand Asian elephants Elephas maximus are threatened because of habitat loss and fragmentation (Evans et al, 2018), and poaching for ivory (Breuer et al, 2016;Ihwagi et al, 2018) and, more recently, skins (Sampson et al, 2018). These activities disrupt social hierarchies (Jones et al, 2018) and increase stress, which may decrease resilience (Vijayakrishnan et al, 2018).…”

The Past, Present and Future of Elephant Landscapes in Asia

“…In Southeast Asia, the disappearance of a large tract of highly suitable habitat in central Thailand is particularly striking (Figure 3), possibly reflecting both the land conversions that occurred during colonialism as well as the more recent "Green Revolution" of industrial agriculture. Thailand and Myanmar, both of which have lower elephant populations than expected based on their share of inhabited range, have had high rates of historic offtake, and Myanmar has recently been fighting the poaching of elephants for skin (48)(49)(50)(51). Trends for these countries continue across all modelled future scenarios (Figure 4).…”