Why inter‐country loans will not help sumatra's elephants

Abstract

Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in western zoos are likely to become extinct unless elephants are regrouped into breeding units or additional elephants are imported from range States. There have been proposals for the export of elephants from elephant camps in Sumatra, Indonesia. In exchange, zoos would be expected to provide funds or support ‘in kind’ for the camps or for the conservation of wild elephants. Most of the elephants in the Sumatran camps were captured because of crop‐raiding problems around protected areas or because elephant habitat has been and continues to be lost to development schemes and illegal conversion of protected areas to agriculture. Capture‐related mortality rates are high and conditions in the camps are poor, with low standards of veterinary care and husbandry. This is partly due to over‐crowding and inadequate budgets. It might seem, therefore, that the loan of elephants to western zoos would improve the lot of these elephants and reduce the pressures on the camps. However, we show that both total and annual demand for Asian elephants, and particularly Sumatran elephants (E. m. sumatranus), by western zoos are low, and consequently the resources generated by any loan scheme would be limited. Elephant loan schemes are unlikely to have significant beneficial impact on either the conservation or welfare of elephants in Sumatra. More importantly, a credible loan scheme would require a permanent moratorium on the capture of wild elephants in Sumatra. Such a moratorium is needed to prevent illicit captures for sale or loan. At present, wild elephants are caught to replace those that die at the camps or are moved to other facilities. Without a moratorium, the loan of elephants to overseas zoos would contribute directly to reductions in wild elephant populations in Sumatra. However, a moratorium is likely to prove impossible to enforce, and this alone should call into question the desirability of any loan scheme. Zoo Biol 25:235–246, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

“…Asian elephants, even if Myanmar is a cornerstone for this species [70], are threatened in the country by habitat degradation and fragmentation. This could potentially increase the risk of direct man-elephant conflicts [71], possibly explaining the shift to a predominant nocturnal activity in the disturbed area. Finally, Asiatic golden cat (NT) is described in the literature as an extremely adaptive species captured with camera traps during day and night [61,72].…”

Conservation philosophy and activities of the International Elephant Foundation

“…One of IEF's signature Asian elephant conservation projects, the Conservation Response Units (CRUs) in Sumatra, has been instrumental in protecting and securing habitat, and changing community attitudes towards elephants (Azmi & Gunaryadi, ; Riddle & Oo, ), thereby having positive effects on the preservation of the Critically Endangered Sumatran elephant Elephas maximus sumatranus (IUCN, ), which has an estimated population of only 1800 individuals. As Sumatra's lowland and highland forests ‘have been and continue to be lost to development schemes and illegal conversion of protected areas to agriculture’ (Hedges et al , ), suitable habitat has declined at an alarming rate resulting in displaced elephants and an increase in human–elephant conflict. Prior to the year 2000, the government reaction was to capture habitual ‘problem’ elephants involved in human–elephant conflict and put them in elephant training centres.…”

Reducing human–elephant conflict: do chillies help deter elephants from entering crop fields?

“…Furthermore, the elephant populations in Way Kambas and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks remain under threat as a result of habitat loss (especially encroachment by agriculture), poaching and conflict with the people living adjacent to the Parks. Crop raiding by elephants is common and farmers sometimes retaliate by killing the animals or by encouraging the authorities to remove so-called problem elephants from the wild (Hedges et al, 2005, 2006). Crop depredation by elephants is also a major source of economic hardship for rural farmers in Lampung and this helps drive negative attitudes towards protected areas (Nyhus et al, 2000; Reilly, 2002; Sitompul, 2004; Hedges et al, 2005).…”