The present study examined the extent to which the introduction of three female Asian elephants (aged 3, 11, and 27 years) into a group of 1.4 (1 male, 4 female) elephants at Münster zoo, Germany, affects the behaviour and urinary Cortisol levels of the animals involved. At Münster, only the females were monitored — the bull was mainly kept separate. Behavioural observations were carried out before transfer and during the six-month period following transfer, and urine samples were collected regularly from each elephant during the whole observation period. All elephants showed behavioural changes to the process of introduction. The transferred animals increased their social behaviour after arrival in the foreign zoo. Two of them showed an increase in stereotypies and one a reduction in stereotypies. The elephants at Münster reacted with decreased frequencies of stereotypies and increased frequencies of social behaviour and manipulation/exploration behaviour. Six months after transfer, three of the four elephants at Münster and one of the three transferred elephants showed nearly the same behavioural activity pattern as before transfer. One female still showed elevated stereotypic behaviour. From the four elephants in which Cortisol measurements could be reliably performed (two of the transferred elephants and two elephants at Münster), only one individual at Münster responded to the process of introduction with a short-term elevation in urinary Cortisol levels. One elephant showed a negative correlation between locomotion and Cortisol levels and one a positive correlation between stereotypies and Cortisol levels. Taken together, the results suggest that transfer and introduction caused some stress responses in the elephants, but that stress was neither prolonged nor severe. Serious welfare problems may have been prevented through individual behavioural coping mechanisms and former experience with stressful situations.

The measurement of salivary cortisol allows non-invasive assessment of welfare in captive animals. We utilised this technique to test the effect of zoo opening on six Asian elephants and two Indian rhinoceros at the Terra Natura Zoological Park, Alicante, Spain, during pre-opening, opening and post-opening periods. Salivary cortisol concentrations were found to be significantly higher during the opening period than during pre- and post-opening periods for both species. This method could prove a useful tool in monitoring the success of decisions taken to improve the welfare of captive animals.

We previously reported that African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) female elephants in European zoos have shorter adult lifespans than protected conspecifics in range countries. This effect was the cause of greatest concern in Asian elephants, and risk factors within this species included being zoo-born, transferred between zoos, and possibly removed early from the mother. Here, we investigate these risk factors further; assess fecundity and sustainability in European zoos; and propose testable hypotheses as to the causes of these animals’ problems. Although imported wild-born Asian elephants live longer than zoo-born conspecifics, being imported when juvenile or adult appears no more protective than being imported in infancy, suggesting that the benefits of being wild- rather than zoo-born are conferred early in life. Zoo-born Asian neonates are significantly heavier than those born to working animals in range countries, with a possible tendency to be fatter. In zoos, African elephants have tended to be removed from their mothers at older ages than young Asians, and were also transferred between zoos significantly less often: factors that could possibly underlie this species’ lower calf losses and improving adult survivorship in Europe. Both species have low fecundity in European zoos compared to in situ populations, and are not self-sustaining, declining at approximately 10% per annum if reliant on captive-bred females under historically prevailing conditions. Data from other species suggest that stress and/or obesity are parsimonious explanations for the suite of problems seen. We recommend specific screens for testing these hypotheses, and for potentially identifying vulnerable individuals within the extant zoo populations.

Several established models in human and veterinary medicine exist to evaluate an individual health or disease status. Many of these seem unsuitable for further epidemiological research aimed at discovering underlying influential factors. As a case example for score development and choice, the present study analyses different approaches to scoring the foot health of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) living in European facilities. Sum scores with varying degree of detail, and without or with a weighting method, were compared using descriptive statistics, ie kurtosis, skewness, Shannon entropy, total redundancy, their maximum and their actual ranges. With increasing score complexity, a higher level of differentiation was reached. In parallel, the distribution of score frequencies in the population shifted systematically: with the least complex scoring model the pattern indicated a severely unhealthy population with an opposite skew to a hypothetically healthy population, whereas the most complex scoring model indicated a mildly affected population with a skew corresponding to that expected for a healthy population. We propose the latter, in the form of the Particularised Severity Score (ParSev), which accounts for every nail and pad individually and weights the sub-scores by squaring, as the most relevant score for further investigations, either in assessing changes within an elephant population over time, or correlating foot health in epidemiological studies to potentially influencing factors. Our results emphasise the relevance of choosing appropriate scoring models for welfare-associated evaluations, due to implications for the applicability as well as the perceived welfare status of the test population.

Many protected areas worldwide have been established to protect the last natural refuges of flagship animal species. However, long-established protected areas do not always match the current distributions of target species under changing environmental conditions. Here we present a case study of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus in Xishuangbanna, south-west China, to evaluate whether the established protected areas match the species’ current distribution and to identify key habitat patches for Asian elephant conservation. Our results show that currently only 24.5% of the predicted Asian elephant distribution in Xishuangbanna is located within Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, which was established for elephant conservation. Based on the predicted Asian elephant distribution, we identified the most important habitat patches for elephant conservation in Xishuangbanna. The three most important patches were outside Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and together they contained 43.3% of the estimated food resources for Asian elephants in all patches in Xishuangbanna. Thus, we identified a spatial mismatch between immobile protected areas and mobile animals. We recommend the inclusion of the three identified key habitat patches in a new national park currently being planned by the Chinese authorities for the conservation of the Asian elephant.

Although parasitic nematodes in the genera Murshidia and Quilonia (family Strongylidae) are recognized as major gastrointestinal parasites in Asian elephants, they have been poorly studied. Recently, light micrographs of these parasites in Myanmar have been presented, almost 100 years after the original drawings. However, the number of coronal leaflets, a key taxonomic feature of Quilonia species, has not been precisely determined based on light microscopy. The current study aimed to determine the exact number of coronal leaflets in Quilonia renniei specimens from Asian elephants in Myanmar. On the basis of scanning electron micrographs, leaflet number in females (19–20, average 19.7, n = 9) was significantly higher (P < 0.005) than that in males (16–19, average 18.1, n = 8). This compares with 18 coronal leaflets indicated in the original species description. Specimens bearing 19 coronal leaflets were most numerous, followed by those with 20 leaflets. Median-joining network analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences with 16 haplotypes from 19 individuals revealed no clear association between parasite populations and the number of coronal leaflets. These results highlight the importance of determining the number of coronal leaflets in the taxonomy of Q. renniei and other related Quilonia species infecting Asian elephants.

In areas where farmland borders protected areas, wildlife may be attracted to crops and cause substantial financial damage for farmers. Elephants, in particular, can destroy a year's harvest in a single night, and can also cause damage to buildings and other farm structures. Few studies have examined whether damage caused by wild elephants increases social inequalities in farmer communities. We interviewed settlement leaders and subsistence rice farmers living in the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park, Nepal, to examine (1) the variation and spatial distribution of wealth within the farmer community, (2) the severity and spatio-temporal distribution of damage inflicted by Asian elephants Elephas maximus, and (3) the willingness to insure against such damage. We investigated whether particular societal strata are disproportionally affected by negative interactions with elephants. We found that farmers near the boundary between agricultural and wilderness areas were significantly poorer and had smaller landholdings than those further into the cultivated lands. Concomitantly, damage to crops and houses was more frequent nearer the wilderness–agriculture boundary than further away from it. Hence, in the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park, farmers near the wilderness–cultivation boundary, with small landholdings, had a relatively higher cost of elephant damage, yet were less willing to pay for an insurance scheme. We infer that in areas where both social inequality and damage caused by wildlife are spatially structured, conservation success may cause economic hardship for the local community, particularly for the poorer class. We discuss causes of the current lack of communal mitigation measures against the damage caused by elephants in the Park, and potential solutions.

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.

A ratio-based logistic model developed to assess elephant harvest rates, based on a study at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in India, was recommended as a management tool to control human–elephant conflict through culling. Considering this reserve among others violates an assumption of the logistic model: isolation. Nevertheless, assuming this violation was irrelevant, we re-evaluated the model, with minor modifications, for the neighbouring Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, where we used data from 13 elephant Elephas maximus population surveys to derive bootstrapped sets of population ratios, and mortality records. We generated arrays of harvest regimes and examined which ratio outputs were closest to the bootstrapped ratios. Our results indicated that (1) model outputs corresponded best with the Mudumalai population structure when harvest regimes were extreme and unlikely, (2) there were significant differences in population structure and harvest regimes between Nagarhole and Mudumalai, and (3) only 49% of adult male deaths predicted by model outputs were recorded in official governmental records. The model provides significantly different results among reserves, which invalidates it as a tool to predict change across the entire elephant population. Variability in survey data and inaccuracies in transition probabilities are sufficiently large to warrant caution when using them as a basis for deterministic modelling. Official mortality databases provide a weak means of validation because poaching incidents are poorly recorded. We conclude that the model should be based on validated transition probabilities and encompass the entire regional population.

We attempted to deter crop-raiding elephants Elephas maximus by using playbacks of threatening vocalizations such as felid growls and human shouts. For this purpose, we tested two sound-playback systems in southern India: a wireless, active infrared beam-triggered system to explore the effects of night-time uncertainty in elephants' assessment of predatory threats, and a passive infrared motion detector-triggered system for closer-range playbacks. Using the first system, we deterred 90% of crop-raiding attempts using tiger Panthera tigris growls, 72.7% using leopard Panthera pardus growls, and 57.1% using human shouts, with no statistically significant difference among the three sounds. Using the second system, playbacks of tiger and lion Panthera leo growls deterred 100 and 83.3% of crop-raiding attempts, respectively, with no statistically reliable difference between the two, although video evidence indicated that elephants were more fearful of tiger growls. Our results indicate that playbacks of threatening sounds can be effective in mitigating human–elephant conflict, particularly in bolstering existing deterrent methods.

Large-scale forest encroachment in Assam, India, has led to increasing levels of human–elephant conflict. Conflict mitigation is a priority for the survival of Asian elephants Elephas maximus throughout Asia. We analysed a 3-year dataset of elephant occurrence and related instances of human–elephant conflict, from two sites in Assam, and explored the relationships between the various effects of elephants on human communities and factors influencing the spatial and temporal occurrence of these effects (proximity to water, refuge areas and villages, and human and crop density). The landscapes at both study sites have been transformed by forest loss, with large areas converted to agriculture. Remaining forest patches, which are mostly small, disconnected and degraded, as well as tea plantations, provide refuge areas for elephants as they move through the region. We found that crop depredation and property damage caused by elephants showed well-defined seasonal trends. They also showed a clear diurnal pattern, mostly occurring between 18.00 and 22.00. Small communities within 700 m of a refuge were most affected. In the management of human–elephant conflict in Assam we need to consider the refuge patches used by elephants as they move through the region, the peripheries of which are likely to be conflict hotspots. Small villages on the edges of refuges should be a priority for conflict mitigation assistance, with strategies taking into account seasonal and diurnal variation in elephant behaviour, as well as the socio-economic and cultural composition of communities.

The Asian elephant's foraging strategy in its natural habitat and in cultivation was studied in southern India during 1981–83. Though elephants consumed at least 112 plant species in the study area, about 85% of their diet consisted of only 25 species from the order Malvales and the families Leguminosae, Palmae, Cyperaceae and Gramineae. Alteration between a predominantly browse diet during the dry season with a grass diet during the early wet season was related to the seasonally changing protein content of grasses.

Crop raiding, which was sporadic during the dry season, gradually increased with more area being cultivated with the onset of rains. Raiding frequency reached a peak during October-December, with some villages being raided almost every night, when finger millet (Eleusine coracana) was cultivated by most farmers. The monthly frequency of raiding was related to the seasonal movement of elephant herds and to the size of the enclave. Of their total annual food requirement, adult bull elephants derived an estimated 9.3% and family herds 1.7% in quantity from cultivated land. Cultivated cereal and millet crops provided significantly more protein, calcium and sodium than the wild grasses. Ultimately, crop raiding can be thought of as an extension of the elephant's optimal foraging strategy.

The movement and habitat utilization patterns were studied in an Asian elephant population during 1981–83 within a 1130 km2 area in southern India (11° 30′ N to 12° 0′ N and 76° 50′ E to 77° 15′ E). The study area encompasses a diversity of vegetation types from dry thorn forest (250–400 m) through deciduous forest (400–1400 m) to stunted evergreen shola forest and grassland (1400–1800 m).

Home range sizes of some identified elephants were between 105 and 320 km2. Based on the dry season distribution, five different elephant clans, each consisting of between 50 and 200 individuals and having overlapping home ranges, could be defined within the study area. Seasonal habitat preferences were related to the availability of water and the palatability of food plants. During the dry months (January-April) elephants congregated at high densities of up to five individuals km-2 in river valleys where browse plants had a much higher protein content than the coarse tall grasses on hill slopes. With the onset of rains of the first wet season (May-August) they dispersed over a wider area at lower densities, largely into the tall grass forests, to feed on the fresh grasses, which then had a high protein value. During the second wet season (September-December), when the tall grasses became fibrous, they moved into lower elevation short grass open forests.

The normal movement pattern could be upset during years of adverse environmental conditions. However, the movement pattern of elephants in this region has not basically changed for over a century, as inferred from descriptions recorded during the nineteenth century.

This study updates the status and conservation of the Endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam. Line transect indirect surveys, block surveys for elephant signs, village surveys of elephant-human conflict incidents, guard-post surveys for records of sightings, and surveys of elephant food plants were undertaken during the dry and wet seasons of 2001. A minimum of 11 elephants and a maximum of 15-17 elephants was estimated for c. 500 km2 of the Park and its vicinity. The elephants are largely confined to the southern boundary of the Park and make extensive use of the adjoining La Nga State Forest Enterprises. During the dry season the elephants depend on at least 26 species of wild and cultivated plants, chiefly the fruits of cashew. Most of the villages surveyed reported some elephant-human conflict. Two adult male elephants seem to cover a large area to raid crops, whereas the family groups restrict themselves to a few villages; overall, the conflict is not serious. Since 2001 there have been no reports of any deaths or births of elephants in the Park. We make recommendations for habitat protection and management, increasing the viability of the small population, reducing elephant-human conflicts, and improving the chances of survival of the declining elephants of this Park. The Government has now approved an Action Plan for Urgent Conservation Areas in Vietnam that calls for the establishment of three elephant conservation areas in the country, including Cat Tien National Park.

Captive breeding programmes for the Asian elephant Elephas maximus have failed to establish self-sustaining zoo populations. Birth rates are low and calf mortality rates are high. The zoo population is widely dispersed, with few animals being moved on breeding loan. New techniques may increase birth rates but current predictions suggest demographic extinction within 50 years. It would be difficult to justify importing elephants from sustainable zoo reserves in Asia to participate in ex situ breeding programmes where reproductive success is low. Zoos should either urgently regroup animals to form breeding units, or accept that Asian elephants will die out in zoos and that funds should be diverted to in situ conservation projects.

Over the last 50 years there has been increasing use of charismatic large mammals and birds as ‘flagship species’ to raise funds and promote the ethos of conservation. However, species chosen to appeal to donor and membership groups may not necessarily be considered popular among local communities. A growing recognition of the need to engage local communities in conservation makes them an increasingly important audience for information about conservation. In such situations an awareness of the local perception and value of different species is central to choosing effective flagships. Emphasising this, we propose 10 criteria for the selection of flagship species. We then describe three examples of local flagship species and assess their use against these criteria: the Asian elephant Elephas maximus for the conservation of landscapes in Aceh, Indonesia, the flying fox Pteropus voeltzkowi for forest protection on Pemba Island, Tanzania, and the ceiba or kapok tree Ceiba pentandra for the conservation of forests in Belize.

The conservation status of five elephant corridors in different regions of India is discussed. Elephants have not used the 13-km-wide corridor between Ariankavu and Thenmalai, in the southern portion of the Western Ghats for several decades because a rail track and road, both of which are bordered by human habitations, cross it. The future of the Chilla–Motichur and Rajaji–Corbett corridors, which hold the Rajaji–Corbett elephant population in north-west India as one entity, is bleak. It is still possible for elephants to use the Kallar–Jaccanari corridor linking the 4000-strong elephant population of northern and southern Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in southern India. It may be possible to save the Siju–Rewak corridor, which connects the elephant populations on either side of the River Simsang in north-east India. The authors suggest that other Asian countries that have elephant populations and that are capable of establishing large conservation units, should have master plans that should detail possible developmental activities around existing wildlife habitats. Establishing vast protected areas for large mammals, however, would need political will and regular communication among the nations' development planners, wildlife managers and researchers.

Elephants Elephas maximus have declined in range and number in the wild in Sri Lanka, from c. 12,000 at the turn of the nineteenth century to c. 4000 today. While in the distant past the decline in elephant numbers was due largely to indiscriminate killing by sportsmen and trophy hunters, today elephants are being killed primarily because they interfere with agriculture. Human-elephant conflicts have increased substantially in the recent past and ivory poaching has become a byproduct of such conflicts. Elephant tusks have been used traditionally in the ivory-carving industry in Sri Lanka since the time of the ancient kings. Until the turn of the century, very little ivory was imported from Africa because there was a plentiful supply of tuskers locally available. Sri Lankan ivory carvers started to use African ivory in 1910. Today ivory and fake-ivory products are sold openly to tourists in some 86 shops in the island. Before the listing of the African elephant in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the value of raw ivory in Sri Lanka used to be $US228–285 per kg. After the listing, the price fell to $US72 per kg, reflecting a drastic drop in the demand for ivory from tourists. Many ivory carvers have switched to other jobs or are using substitutes (such as bone and horn) to produce fake-ivory carvings. Only about 7.5 per cent of bulls in Sri Lanka are tuskers and they are under poaching pressure outside protected areas. Given the rarity of tuskers in Sri Lanka, promotion of trade in ivory products, even locally, may pose a serious threat to their long-term survival in the wild.