Elephant
In 2008, the IUCN listed the Asian elephant as endangered due to a 50% population decline over the past 60–75 years while CITES lists the species under Appendix I. Asian elephants once ranged from Syria and Iraq (the subspecies "Elephas maximus asurus"), to China (up to the Yellow River) and Java. It is now extinct in these areas, and the current range of Asian elephants is highly fragmented. The total population of Asian elephants is estimated to be around 40,000–50,000, although this may be a loose estimate. It is likely that around half of the population is in India. Although Asian elephants are declining in numbers overall, particularly in Southeast Asia, the population in the Western Ghats appears to be increasing.
International Elephant Foundation
Based on IEF’s successful Sumatran elephant Conservation Response Unit project, IEF is developing a long-term relationship with Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) to assist in developing a Conservation Center and Conservation Response Units that would use out-of-work elephants for eco-education and conservation patrols. This center will also be a base for mahout training and an elephant hospital.
Human-elephant conflict is a problem in many villages in Assam. In addition to food crops, forests are being logged for their timber, fuel or cleared to make space for cash crop plantations such as rubber. As elephant habitat diminishes, elephants leave the forest and enter human communities in search of food. This project, proposed by affected villagers, will revive the degraded habitat of wild elephants by planting elephant food plants in the existing elephant habitat, and planting natural barriers of thorny plants - Assam lemon and thorny bamboo - between the forest and fields to protect the cultivated areas.
Habitat loss and degradation is a significant issue for Asian elephant in Cambodia and there has been few targeted conservation efforts. The short-term goals of this project are to collect critical information to enable a monitoring program to be established, to improve human-Asian elephant coexistence and to inform the development of a comprehensive Asian elephant national action plan for Cambodia. The long-term is to develop a monitoring program for Asian elephants in the southern Cardamom Mountains.
Human- elephant conflict is a growing problem in Sri Lanka as elephants are forced to leave the forest looking for food and water. These conflicts lead to human and elephant deaths and damage to crops and property. The Schools Awareness Program has presented curriculum at 1,500 schools in the last 10 years and addresses the value of elephants, the causes of conflict, how to minimize the conflicts and stresses the need for conservation.
This project will seek strategies for reopening elephant corridors in the northwestern wildlife region, identify the locations of existing elephant corridors and isolated elephant habitats, and identify suitable areas for development that will not block the natural migration routes and does not harm the natural food sources of the elephants.