INTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION STRATEGY IN SUPPORT OF ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION The International Elephant Foundation Strategy in Support of Asian Elephant Conservation is the result of the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) facilitated workshop of technical representatives from U.S. Asian elephant facilities with expertise conserving Asian elephants in human care, and other U.S. representatives with expertise and experience conserving Asian elephants in range countries. The goal of this Action Plan is to enhance and conserve Asian elephant populations in the wild. Mission Statement The International Elephant Foundation Strategy in Support of Asian Elephant Conservation provides a more coordinated Asian elephant conservation strategy for U.S. Asian elephant facilities focusing on the expertise and experience of the U.S. elephant management community. Vision Statement This strategy identifies and describes those specific components of in situ Asian elephant conservation where there is a direct link to ex situ Asian elephant expertise, and identifies suggested management actions. With a priority focused list of actions, the U.S. elephant management community can maximize limited resources, encourage coordination and collaboration, and further encourage increased participation resulting in a more coordinated approach to maximize conservation activities. 1. Background Asian elephants were historically found from West Asia along the Iranian coast into the Indian subcontinent, and eastward into Southeast Asia and parts of China. Formerly ranging over three and a half million square miles, the Asian elephant is now extinct in West Asia, Java, and most of China, and survives in isolated populations scattered across remaining grassland and tropical forest habitats in thirteen Asian countries. Less than 30% of the entire extant range is within protected areas, and many protected areas afford little protection for elephants or their habitat. The Asian elephant is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN Red Data Book and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. While Asian elephant populations continue to decline, there exists insufficient data to accurately estimate national elephant population sizes. A 2008 international workshop on the status of Asian elephant populations noted that little has changed in the past decade to improve overall population THE INTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION STRATEGY IN SUPPORT OF ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION estimates. Other than for a few areas, there is no formal measure of the trend of most elephant populations, including the great majority of the remaining core populations. The often repeated global population estimate of “about 30,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants” has been quoted for over a quarter of a century despite major loss of elephant habitat. While significant international focus has been directed at Asian elephant conservation, the underlying causes of Asian elephant population declines continue to exert pressure on most of the remaining populations. Throughout history, the Asian elephant has played a unique role in human economies, religion, and culture. Archaeological evidence indicates that Asian elephants were commonly used as beasts of burden as early as 3000 BCE, particularly in war. Asian elephants were important to military supply lines as recently as the Vietnam War in the 1960s. In some remote areas of Southeast Asia it is still more economical to use elephants for work than it is to use modern machinery. In range countries, captive elephants have historically been used for labor (logging and transport), eco-tourism, exhibition/public awareness, and patrolling and conflict mitigation work. However, the relationship between humans and Asian elephants goes far beyond utility. Having a significant impact on religion and culture, elephants have a central place in Hinduism and Buddhism - the two major world faiths that originated in Asia. Today elephants are still commonly used for ceremonial and religious purposes in Asia. While the role of captive Asian elephants has diminished and changed over time, they still play a functional role in most parts of their range. Over 13,000 captive elephants are currently maintained within range countries in Asia. This may represent as much as one third of the entire remaining Asian elephant population. Issues concerning the management of such a large captive population have been identified as one of the five key limiting factors for wild Asian elephant conservation due to the threat that illegal captures could pose. Sustainability of captive elephants in range states needs to be addressed along with management strategies to effectively respond to a possibly diminishing role for these captive animals. Fewer than 1000 Asian elephants are managed in human care in non-range countries such as North America, South and Central America, Australasia, Middle East, Japan and Europe. In the United States, 296 Asian elephants are currently managed in 78 facilities. Each facility has an established care and maintenance program for their elephants and many facilities also provide significant amounts of financial and human resources dedicated to ex situ research and in situ Asian elephant conservation. This community of expertise is unique, and brings a collective wealth of knowledge to help address the issues of Asian elephants in human care and their impacts on wild populations. There is an identified need for greater coordination and cooperation within this community relative to sustainable ex situ populations and a desire to maximize support that directly links ex situ expertise to in situ conservation. With this background, IEF sponsored a facilitated workshop to bring a number of interested U.S. based Asian elephant technical experts together to develop a strategy in order to provide a more coordinated Asian elephant conservation strategy for U.S. Asian elephant facilities, focusing on the expertise and experience of the U.S. elephant management community. This strategy is intended to identify and describe those specific components of in situ Asian elephant conservation where there is a direct link to ex situ Asian elephant expertise, and identify suggested management actions. With a priority focused list of actions, the community can maximize limited resources, encourage coordination and collaboration and further encourage increased participation in cooperative breeding programs among the U.S. elephant holding institutions. It is also anticipated that this effort may June 2012 June 2012 Page 2 THE INTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION STRATEGY IN SUPPORT OF ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION further encourage other elephant holding facilities to participate in a more coordinated approach to maximize their individual conservation activities. The results of the workshop are presented in this document. A positive outcome of the workshop was the desire of the participants to organize a process to ensure continued work on implementation of this Action Plan. The International Elephant Foundation welcomes all interested conservation community parties to join these efforts, particularly other Asian elephant holding facilities that may manage Asian elephants but may not be actively involved in ex situ propagation or in situ conservation. IEF agreed to host the activities of the representatives of the Action Plan on an ongoing basis. IEF also agreed to develop and maintain a voluntary database to support implementation of the Action Plan and serve as a clearinghouse for projects associated with Asian elephant conservation. Representatives will meet on a periodic basis to evaluate progress and update the Action Plan as needed. 2. Goal The Goal of this Action Plan is to enhance and conserve Asian elephants in the wild. 3. Proposed Conservation Area Populations of Asian elephants are found in varying habitats throughout their current range in 13 countries. (See attached map.) Management actions may occur in any range country, depending on a number of factors including need, willing participation of the host country, existing conservation efforts being undertaken by Asian elephant facilities, and other factors. Figure 1: Asian Elephant range showing all Confirmed, Possible, and Recoverable range categories, the selected core populations (“Candidate populations”) and the historical range. From Range-wide Mapping Workshop for Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) Cambodia, October 2008, USFWS Assistance Award No: 98210-6-G23, funded by the Wildlife Conservation Society. June 2012 June 2012 Page 3 THE INTERNATIONAL ELEPHANT FOUNDATION STRATEGY IN SUPPORT OF ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION 4. Population Objectives and Measurement In situ Population Objective and Measurement An international workshop held in Cambodia in 2008 brought representatives from all 13 Asian elephant range countries together to review the available information on the status of wild population of Asian elephants (Range-wide Mapping Workshop for Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) Cambodia, October 2008, USFWS Assistance Award No: 98210-6-G232). The workshop objectives were to map and characterize known populations of Asian elephants, as well as areas that may sustain populations but where recent survey data are lacking. Corridors to link known populations and areas for future reintroduction were also identified. A priority set of populations for conservation action covering the major ecological and genetic range of the Asian