First country-wide survey of the Endangered Asian elephant: towards better conservation and management in Sri Lanka

The Endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus comes into widespread conflict with agrarian communities, necessitating active management. The species’ distribution is of primary importance for management planning. However, data-based countrywide distribution maps have not been available for any of th...

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Vydáno v:Oryx Ročník 55; číslo 1; s. 46 - 55
Hlavní autoři: Fernando, Prithiviraj, De Silva, M.K. Channa R., Jayasinghe, L.K.A., Janaka, H.K., Pastorini, Jennifer
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.01.2021
Témata:
adults
Agrarian society
Coexistence
Community
Conservation
Current distribution
Elephantidae
Elephants
Elephas maximus
Endangered & extinct species
Geographical distribution
Global positioning systems
GPS
Habitats
landscapes
Males
Management planning
national surveys
Oryx
people
Polls & surveys
Questionnaires
Species assessments
Sri Lanka
Wildlife conservation
Sri Lanka
India
conservation
Asian elephant
Sri Lanka
Elephas maximus
survey
distribution
human–wildlife conflict
ISSN:0030-6053, 1365-3008, 1365-3008
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Shrnutí:The Endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus comes into widespread conflict with agrarian communities, necessitating active management. The species’ distribution is of primary importance for management planning. However, data-based countrywide distribution maps have not been available for any of the 13 Asian elephant range states. We conducted a 5 × 5 km grid-based questionnaire survey in Sri Lanka to produce an island-wide elephant distribution map. Elephants occur over 59.9% of Sri Lanka and people are resident in 69.4% of elephant range, indicating the challenge of separating people and elephants at a landscape scale. Elephants in Sri Lanka have lost 16.1% of their range since 1960 but their current distribution remains largely contiguous. We found the range of adult males was 15.1% greater, and less seasonal, than that of herds, possibly because males have a higher tolerance for conflict with people. The distribution of conflict coincided with the co-occurrence of humans and elephants. We conclude that a human–elephant coexistence model is the only viable option for effectively mitigating human–elephant conflict and conserving elephants in Sri Lanka. The findings are currently being used to effect a paradigm change in elephant conservation and management in the country.
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ISSN:0030-6053
1365-3008
1365-3008
DOI:10.1017/S0030605318001254