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The Demography and Life History Strategies of Timber Elephants in Myanmar

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The Demography and Life History Strategies of Timber Elephants in Myanmar THE DEMOGRAPHY AND LIFE HISTORY STRATEGIES OF TIMBER ELEPHANTS IN MYANMAR by Khyne U Mar Thesis submitted to the University College London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy July, 2007 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study could not have been carried out without the support of the following funding agencies and persons. The International Foundation for Science, Sweden (IFS grant B/2295-1) provides financial support to conduct the Myanmar elephant studbook project. Special thanks to Prospect Burma Foundation (UK) for continuous support for both Masters of Science and PhD studies at the University of London. Charles Wallace Burma Trust (UK), Three Oaks Foundation (Canada), Whitley-Laing Foundation (The Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, UK), Toyota Foundation (Japan), Fantham Memorial Research Scholarship in Zoology, Department of Biology, University College London and Wildlife Conservation Society (USA) Field Veterinary Program provide significant funding that contribute towards my research, overseas travel and tuition fees. My profound gratitude goes to Professor Dr. Adrian M Lister, Department of Biology, University College London, for his unfailing support, constructive comments and valuable suggestions on the preparation of this thesis. My thanks go to Professor Georgina Mace (Director of Science, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London) for supervision and guidance. An ordinary “appreciation” for my direct advisor, Dr. Marcus Rowcliffe, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, is entirely inadequate to express how grateful I am for his guidance, unending patience of teaching me statistics (sometimes up to six times), attention to detail in editing my “Burmese” English to “British” English and constant encouragement during my days in the Institute of Zoology. He has proven not only to be a superb academic supervisor but has also extended friendship beyond that expected. I am indebted to the Trustees of elephant family-UK (Mark Shand, Lord Robin Russell, Dugal Muller, Nicholas Claxton and Caroline Casey) for understandably allowing me a long absence from the office at crucial times of my study. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my sisters and brothers living around the globe (in Myanmar, Japan, Australia and France). They always have provided unwavering love and encouragement. Thanks to all of you for believing in me. There is no way I could adequately express the debt of gratitude I owe my husband, Maung, who stays thick and thin over the thirty plus years of marriage. To my younger son, Min Zaw (Putu), rehabilitating at the Brain Injury Trust in Milton Keynes, for being so kindly forgive his mother for not visiting him regularly and ignoring his calls especially at the last few months of my study. To my eldest son, Thant Zaw for being a good son. Finally, I am grateful to my colleagues and friends at the Myanma Timber Enterprise and of course, timber elephants, the indefatigable, indispensable and irreplaceable GENTLE GIANTS, silently doing their jobs in the deep forests… 2 ABSTRACT Although the Union of Myanmar is home to the second largest population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus ) in the world, the demography of its captive elephant population has never been studied before in any detail. Life history data analyzed in this thesis are taken from the records and reports archived and maintained by Myanma Timber Enterprise, which is under the charge of the Ministry of Forestry, the Government of the Union of Myanmar. The study population contains 5292 individually identified captive timber elephants, which were born or captured between 1952 and 2000. In this thesis, birth origins of timber elephants are referred to as wild-caught and captive-born. Life-table analysis indicates that the captive-born section of the population should be self-sustaining, but that the demographic rates seen in the wild-caught section would not be sufficient to maintain a stable a population. I extend my analysis by conducting detailed survival analyses. Males have a higher mortality than females throughout the age range. In adults, wild-caught elephants suffered significantly higher mortality than captive- born elephants, and their mortality differed by capture methods. Elephants captured by immobilization showed the lowest survival rate when compared with elephants captured by either milarshikar (lasso or noose) or stockade. Regarding the causes of mortality, I document that accidents and agalactia of mothers were the primary causes of death in calves, while malnutrition and accidents were the main causes in adults. Exploring reproductive patterns and maternal investment, I find that elephant mothers do not adapt their offspring sex ratio, and that reproductive fitness is lower in wild-caught females than captive-born females. Lastly, I explore how the process of increasing time in captivity influences survival probabilities and reproductive potential in captive elephants, both within individuals and between generations. I report that capture stress causes measurable reductions in survival and fecundity rates up to 12 years after capture, as well as reducing the survivorship of calves born to captured females. To achieve a self-sustaining population of captive timber elephants in Myanmar without the need for further capture from the wild, I recommended that Myanma Timber Enterprise re-evaluates elephant management strategies, aiming to improving both the fecundity and survival of captive elephants in all age groups. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................1 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................3 List of figures ..................................................................................................................................9 List of tables....................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 1. General introduction.................................................................................................10 1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................10 1.2. Background information .............................................................................................13 1.2.1. The historical and current status of captive elephant populations ...............13 1.2.2. Global population.........................................................................................14 1.2.3. Myanmar population ....................................................................................15 1.2.3.1. Origin and history..........................................................................15 1.2.3.2. Methods of utilization of elephants in timber industry .................18 1.2.3.3. Capture methods............................................................................24 1.2.3.3.1. Stockade method ............................................................25 1.2.3.3.1. Immobilization method ..................................................31 1.2.3.3.2. Milarshikar (lasso) method.............................................32 1.2.3.4. Taming methods............................................................................34 1.3. Elephant keeping systems ...........................................................................................42 1.3.1. The traditional keeping system of captive Asian elephants in Southeast Asia ................................................................................................................................42 1.3.2. The keeping system of captive Asian elephants in modern zoos.................44 1.4. Life histories in long-lived species..............................................................................48 1.4.2. The effects of capture on life history ...........................................................50 1.4.3. Effect of captivity on life-history.................................................................53 4 1.4.4. Maternal effect on life-history......................................................................54 1.5. Thesis structure ...........................................................................................................54 Chapter 2. Demographic parameters and population growth of working elephants in Myanmar.......................................................................................................................................56 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................56 2.2. Materials and methods ................................................................................................58 2.2.1. Data selection ...............................................................................................58 2.2.2. Life-table analysis ........................................................................................58 2.3. Results .........................................................................................................................60 2.3.1. Observed population growth rate .................................................................60
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