NUMBER 47 2017 GAJAHJournal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group GAJAH Journal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group Number 47 (2017) The journal is intended as a medium of communication on issues that concern the management and conservation of Asian elephants both in the wild and in captivity. It is a means by which everyone concerned with the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), whether members of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group or not, can communicate their research results, experiences, ideas and perceptions freely, so that the conservation of Asian elephants can benefit. All articles published in Gajah reflect the individual views of the authors and not necessarily that of the editorial board or the Asian Elephant Specialist Group. Editor Dr. Jennifer Pastorini Centre for Conservation and Research 26/7 C2 Road, Kodigahawewa Julpallama, Tissamaharama Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] Editorial Board Dr. Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando School of Geography Centre for Conservation and Research University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus 26/7 C2 Road, Kodigahawewa Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Kajang, Selangor Julpallama, Tissamaharama Malaysia Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Dr. Varun R. Goswami Heidi Riddle Wildlife Conservation Society Riddles Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary 551, 7th Main Road P.O. Box 715 Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, 2nd Phase, Kodigehall Greenbrier, Arkansas 72058 Bengaluru - 560 097 USA India e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Dr. T. N. C. Vidya Dr. Alex Rübel Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit Direktor Zoo Zürich Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Zürichbergstrasse 221 Advanced Scientific Research CH - 8044 Zürich Bengaluru - 560 064 Switzerland India e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] GAJAH Journal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group Number 47 (2017) This publication was proudly funded by Wildlife Reserves Singapore Editorial Note Gajah will be published as both a hard copy and an on-line version accessible from the AsESG web site (www.asesg.org/ gajah.htm). If you would like to be informed when a new issue comes out, please provide your e-mail address. If you need to have a hardcopy, please send a request with your name and postal address by e-mail to <[email protected]>. Copyright Notice Gajah is an open access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unre- stricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro- vided the original author and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cover Elephants in a tea garden near the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest (Assam, India) Photo by Nazimur Rahman Talukdar (See article on page 18) Layout and formatting by Dr. Jennifer Pastorini Printed at P & G Printers, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka Gajah 47 (2017) 1 Editorial Jennifer Pastorini (Editor) E-mail: [email protected] Gajah 47 includes five research articles (one In the News and Briefs section M. Sakamoto peer-reviewed) and two short communications. provides a nice overview of topics related to Four publications are about Indian elephants and Asian elephants, which were discussed at recent two papers are from Malaysia and Sri Lanka. We CITES meetings. S.K. Mikota prepared a very also have three interesting news items. useful introduction on how to write a grant proposal, also providing links to helpful websites. For the Peer-Reviewed Research Article a B. Ramakrishnan et al. give us a glimpse on how questionnaire was used by M.D. Patil & V.K. they celebrated this year’s World Elephant Day. Patil to study people’s perceptions on elephants ”Recent Publications on Asian Elephants” lists in the Sindhudurg District. People found it 56 abstracts and “News Briefs” includes 30 news difficult to co-exist with elephants but still felt clippings about elephants across the range. that elephants need to be protected. Vivek Menon, the chair of the Asian Elephant The Research Article from S. Aini et al. presents Specialist Group, reports on the twelfth Meeting a new approach in developing a habitat suitability of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on map for Malaysia’s elephants. They find that the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild a large extent of suitable habitat is outside the Animals. He also informs us about the impact protected areas. N.R. Talukdar & P. Choudhury of the new camps for the Rohingya refugees in give an overview of the current status of Asian Bangladesh, for which more than 5000 acres of elephants in southern Assam. It appears that there forest were cleared. He also reminds us that the are only two herds with a total of 9 elephants left next AsESG meeting will be held in April 2018 in all of southern Assam. T.G.S.L. Prakash et al. in Thailand. used TripAdvisor to evaluate visitors’ opinions about five establishments in four countries We have now introduced a mailing list to inform keeping elephants. Negative reviews per site people per e-mail when a new Gajah becomes ranged from 3 to 37% with unethical treatment available online. Asian Elephant Specialist of elephants being the commonest reason for Group members are being informed anyway but discontent. M. Roy et al. suggest that reforestation anybody else who would like to receive such an in the form of rubber plantations would provide e-mail can simply drop me a message. more income than the current tea estates in three elephant corridors in West Bengal. I would like to thank all the authors who contributed articles about their work for this In Short Communications, N.C. Palei et al. Gajah issue. I am grateful for the editorial team’s assess frequency, patterns and extent of damage help with paper editing and working with the caused by elephants visiting Odisha from the authors to improve their manuscripts. We very neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh. H.P.R.N.S. much appreciate the financial support from the Karunarathna and co-authors describe how they Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group, enabling us fixed the fracture of a radius and ulna in an Asian to also print this Gajah and mail it out for free to elephant calf, using fibreglass casts for the first its readers across the globe. time in Sri Lanka. 1 Gajah 47 (2017) 2-3 Notes from the Chair IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group Vivek Menon Chair’s e-mail: [email protected] Dear members October 2017. This was the first time CMS has convened a COP in Asia since the international I would like to wish all of you a very Happy treaty was adopted in Bonn, Germany in 1979. In 2018 and I am sure the group will have a very a session on ‘Mitigation of the impact of human productive quadrennium and will contribute elephant conflict in the eastern region of India’ significantly for the conservation of Asian organised by the Indian Government, I presented elephants. We will continue in this new year all an overview of the status of wild elephants in the good work that we initiated last year, the most Asia and trans-boundary elephant conservation important being the 11 working groups formed to issues and urged Parties to support the inclusion come up with concrete outcomes for the welfare of the Asian elephant into CMS appendices when and conservation of elephants in Asia in the wild India would submit the proposal in the next COP. and in captivity. The Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants I am happy that Dr. Wahdi Azmi and his team (MIKE) Asia program has been re-launched in has been able to come up with the report of 2017 and MIKE office is working closely with the 2nd Asian Elephant Range State meeting AsESG to improve the data collection protocol held in Jakarta in April 2017 which is quite and to build better synergies between MIKE comprehensive and has come up with useful and SSC activities in the region. We will have a recommendations and we as a group have to separate session on MIKE during the next AsESG now take the responsibility to take this forward members meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in 2018. along with Range countries. The report could be downloaded at <www.asesg.org/PDFfiles/2017/ As you may be aware, the influx of Rohingya AsERSM%202017_Final%20Report.pdf>. refugees due to political instability in Rakhaine state of Myanmar to Bangladesh has created an As informed earlier, the next AsESG members unprecedented situation in Bangladesh for the meeting will be held at the AVANI Riverside people and the biodiversity of the area. About Hotel, Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand from 25th 900,000 Rohingya people have moved across the to 27th April 2018 followed by two days optional border into Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and have field trip to Kui Buri National Park on 28th and been temporarily resettled in Balukhali, Ukhia, 29th April 2018. I would request all the members Kutupalong, Tangkahli, Hakimpara, Jamtoli, to mark the dates and make travel arrangements Chakmarkhul, Moynarghona, Smhamplapure, to attend the meeting. The ex-officio range state Leda and Noyapara areas of Ukhia and Teknaf AsESG members (government) will also be in Cox’s Bazar south division. Since 25th August attending the meeting along with other invited 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have experts. moved to this area in less than a month’s time to join the Rohingya refugees earlier resettled in I had the opportunity to attend the twelfth the Kutupalong area. These people have taken Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the refuge in the natural forest and in the centre of Convention on the Conservation of Migratory the elephant corridor.