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Course:CONS200/2025FL1/Elephant Conservation in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities with Controlled Burning

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Map showing the historical and current distribution of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across 13 range countries in South and Southeast Asia. The species range has contracted to approximately 15% of its former extent

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is one of Asia's most iconic species, yet populations have experienced dramatic declines throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.[1] [1] These creatures have served important ecological functions as megaherbivores, and they've also maintained deep cultural significance across numerous Asian societies for thousands of years.[2] [2] Current estimates suggest that fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild today, and they're scattered across fragmented habitats in thirteen range countries stretching from India all the way to Indonesia.[3][3] The main threats that are driving their population decline include rapid habitat loss, increasing fragmentation of what forests remain, and escalating conflict between humans and elephants in areas where agricultural expansion meets elephant range.[4] [4] This paper will examine the various challenges confronting elephant conservation efforts across Asia, while also exploring some emerging opportunities with particular emphasis on controlled burning as a landscape management tool that might support habitat restoration and help with conflict mitigation strategies.

Backgroung on the Issue

Historical Context and Population Decline

If we look at historical records, Asian elephants once roamed continuously from the Tigris Euphrates river systems in western Asia, through the Indian subcontinent, to southern China and the Indonesian archipelago.[5] However, the species' geographic range has contracted dramatically to approximately 15 percent of its former extent over the past several centuries. [6] The most severe population declines actually occurred during the twentieth century, when commercial logging operations, agricultural expansion for cash crops, and human settlement development removed vast areas of suitable elephant habitat.[7] Sukumar documented that elephant populations in India alone declined from an estimated 100,000 individuals in 1900 to fewer than 30,000 by the late twentieth century which is quite a dramatic drop. [8]This huge decline resulted primarily from deforestation rates that eliminated roughly 40 percent of Asia's tropical forests between 1950 and 2005.[9]

Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Transformation

Contemporary elephant populations face severe challenges from habitat fragmentation rather than just simple habitat loss alone, which is an important distinction. [10]  The conversion of continuous forest landscapes into agricultural mosaics dominated by oil palm plantations, rubber estates, and smallholder croplands has created isolated elephant populations that are unable to maintain genetic connectivity. [11]Goswami and colleagues found that fragmentation restricts elephant movement between habitat patches, which leads to reduced genetic diversity and makes populations more vulnerable to local extinction events.[12]  Infrastructure development, including highways, railways, and canals, further exacerbates this fragmentation by creating barriers to seasonal migration patterns that elephants have followed for generations. [13] The Asian Elephant Specialist Group reported that major infrastructure projects across Asia bisect critical elephant corridors with at least 88 identified migration routes now facing disruption from planned development activities.[14]

Human-Elephant Conflict Dynamics

The compression of elephant populations into smaller habitat fragments inevitably increases contact between elephants and human communities, generating conflict situations that threaten both species. [15] Elephants regularly raid agricultural crops (particularly rice, sugarcane, and banana plantations), causing substantial economic losses for farming families who are often already living in poverty.[16]Fernando and his research team documented that crop-raiding behavior by elephants in Sri Lanka caused annual losses exceeding $5 million USD, with individual farming households sometimes losing up to 50 percent of their annual harvest which is devastating for these families.[17]  Retaliatory killing of elephants by affected communities has emerged as a significant mortality factor, with poisoning and shooting accounting for up to 20 percent of elephant deaths in certain regions.But it's not just elephants that suffer human casualties also remain substantial, with approximately 400-500 people killed annually by elephants across Asia.[18]

Fire Ecology and Elephant Habitat Requirements

Traditional fire regimes have historically played important roles in maintaining the forest-grassland mosaics that Asian elephants actually prefer.[19]  Elephants demonstrate strong preference for habitats containing mixtures of tall grasses, bamboo stands, and deciduous forest patches these provide diverse forage resources throughout the annual cycle. [20] Research in Indian and Southeast Asian landscapes indicates that Indigenous communities have employed controlled burning practices for centuries to maintain open grasslands and promote fresh vegetation growth. [21] However, fire suppression policies that were implemented during the colonial and post-colonial periods disrupted these traditional management systems, leading to woody plant encroachment and reduced habitat quality for grazing species including elephants. [22] So in some ways, modern conservation policies have inadvertently made things worse.

Current Remedial Actions

Protected Area Networks and Corridor Connection

Asian nations have established extensive protected area systems aimed at conserving elephant populations, though it turns out many reserves prove too small to support viable long-term populations. [23] India's Project Elephant initiative, which was launched in 1992, identified 32 elephant reserves covering approximately 65,000 square kilometers across twelve states. [24] There's growing recognition that isolated protected areas simply cannot sustain elephant populations on their own, and this has driven corridor conservation strategies that attempt to maintain or restore connectivity between habitat fragments. [25] The Wildlife Conservation Society documented 88 priority elephant corridors across Asia that require protection to facilitate population persistence.[26]

Crop-raiding by elephants causes substantial economic losses for farming communities across Asia, leading to human-elephant conflict that threatens both species

Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation Strategies

Communities and conservation organizations have implemented diverse conflict mitigation approaches with varying degrees of success, some work better than others.[27] Physical barriers including electric fencing have proven effective at excluding elephants from agricultural areas, though installation and maintenance costs limit widespread adoption, especially in poorer communities.[28] Early warning systems that employ community monitors, SMS alert networks, and acoustic deterrents help farmers protect crops during critical periods when elephants approach villages.[29] Compensation schemes that reimburse farmers for crop losses aim to reduce retaliatory killing, though bureaucratic delays and inadequate payment levels often undermine program effectiveness in practice.[30] Community-based conservation initiatives in Nepal and Sri Lanka have achieved modest success by involving local residents in monitoring elephant movements and coordinating rapid response teams though these programs require sustained effort. [31]

Controlled Burning for Habitat Management

Asian elephants in the grassland habitat of Kaziranga National Park, India, where controlled burning is used to maintain open grasslands and promote nutritious forage growth

Controlled burning has emerged as a potentially valuable tool for maintaining and restoring elephant habitat in appropriate ecological contexts, though this approach remains somewhat controversial. [32] Fire management programs in India's Kaziranga National Park employ prescribed burns to prevent woody encroachment in grassland areas that are critical for elephant foraging.[33] These burns are typically conducted during dry seasons under carefully controlled conditions, and they stimulate fresh grass growth that provides nutritious forage for elephants and other herbivores. [34]. Improper fire management can degrade forest structure, reduce overall plant diversity, and harm sensitive species, which underscores the need for scientifically informed burning protocols.[35]. It's definitely not something that should be done without proper training and planning.

The Path Forward

Technical and Ecological Recommendations

Future conservation strategies really must integrate landscape scale planning with advances in monitoring technology if they're going to be effective.[36] GPS collar tracking systems combined with satellite imagery analysis enable researchers to map elephant movement patterns, identify critical habitat areas, and predict potential conflict zones before they become serious problems. [37] .This spatial information should guide land-use planning decisions to minimize infrastructure impacts on key migration corridors though getting governments to actually use this information is another challenge entirely. [38] Regarding fire management specifically, adoption of controlled burning programs should proceed cautiously with attention to local ecological conditions, historical fire regimes, and specific habitat requirements of elephant populations in each area. [39] Adaptive management frameworks that monitor vegetation responses to burning and adjust fire frequencies accordingly offer the most promising approach, since conditions can vary significantly between regions. [40]

Social and Cultural Dimensions

Successful elephant conservation requires meaningful engagement with local communities who share landscapes with elephants and bear most of the costs of coexistence, this cannot be emphasized enough. [41] Many Asian cultures maintain traditional respect for elephants rooted in religious beliefs and historical relationships, providing a foundation for conservation efforts that shouldn't be overlooked. [42]  However, these cultural values increasingly conflict with economic pressures and livelihood needs, particularly among younger generations who may not share their elders' reverence for elephants.[43] Integration of Indigenous knowledge systems, including traditional fire management practices, can improve habitat management outcomes while respecting local autonomy and expertise though conservation authorities are sometimes reluctant to cede control to local communities. [44] Participatory planning processes that involve affected communities in decision making about conservation interventions tend to achieve greater long-term success than top down approaches, even if they take more time initially. [45]

Economic and Financial Considerations

Elephant conservation requires substantial sustained funding for protected area management, corridor maintenance, conflict mitigation programs, and community support initiatives and this funding is often difficult to secure. [46] Ecotourism focused on elephant watching generates significant revenue in some regions, potentially creating economic incentives for conservation while providing alternative livelihoods for communities who might otherwise oppose conservation efforts. [47] However, poorly managed tourism can stress elephant populations and degrade habitat quality, so it's not a silver bullet solution.[48] Payment for ecosystem services schemes that compensate landowners for maintaining elephant habitat on private lands represent an emerging financing mechanism, though implementation remains limited and there are questions about long-term sustainability.[49] International conservation funding plays a critical role in many countries, though dependency on external support raises sustainability concerns, so what happens if that funding dries up? [50]

Policy and Legal Framework

Most Asian nations have enacted wildlife protection legislation that prohibits elephant killing and regulates habitat conversion, yet enforcement remains inconsistent across different jurisdictions and sometimes even within the same country.[51] Strengthening institutional capacity for law enforcement, increasing penalties for wildlife crimes, and improving cross-border cooperation to address transboundary populations represent essential policy priorities that governments need to take more seriously.[52]  Land use policies must explicitly recognize elephant corridor protection as a planning priority, potentially through legal designation mechanisms similar to protected area legislation though this often faces resistance from development interests. [53]Fire management policies should be reformed to allow controlled burning in appropriate contexts while maintaining safeguards against uncontrolled fires, which requires balancing ecological needs with safety concerns.[54]

Conclusion

Asian elephant conservation faces formidable challenges arising from continued habitat loss, severe fragmentation, and intensifying human-elephant conflict across the species' range. Existing conservation efforts including protected area networks, corridor initiatives, and community-based conflict mitigation programs that have achieved partial success but remain insufficient to ensure long-term population viability on their own. Controlled burning represents a potentially valuable landscape management tool that can maintain habitat quality and promote forage availability where it's ecologically appropriate, though implementation requires careful scientific oversight to avoid doing more harm than good. Moving forward, effective elephant conservation will depend on integrated approaches that combine landscape-scale planning, advanced monitoring technologies, meaningful community engagement, sustainable financing mechanisms, and strengthened policy frameworks. Success ultimately requires recognition that elephant conservation is inseparable from broader questions of rural development, land rights, and equitable distribution of conservation costs and benefits across Asian societies and addressing these interconnected issues won't be easy or quick.

References

Please use the Wikipedia reference style. Provide a citation for every sentence, statement, thought, or bit of data not your own, giving the author, year, AND page. For dictionary references for English-language terms, I strongly recommend you use the Oxford English Dictionary. You can reference foreign-language sources but please also provide translations into English in the reference list.

Note: Before writing your wiki article on the UBC Wiki, it may be helpful to review the tips in Wikipedia: Writing better articles.[55]

  1. ↑ Fernando, P., & Pastorini, J. (2011). Range-wide status of Asian elephants. Gajah, 35, 15-20.
  2. ↑ Sukumar, R. (2003). The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation. Oxford University Press, p. 47.
  3. ↑ Williams, C., Tiwari, S. K., Goswami, V. R., de Silva, S., Kumar, A., Baskaran, N., Yoganand, K., & Menon, V. (2020). Elephas maximus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020.
  4. ↑ Leimgruber, P., Gagnon, J. B., Wemmer, C., Kelly, D. S., Songer, M. A., & Selig, E. R. (2003). Fragmentation of Asia's remaining wildlands: implications for Asian elephant conservation. Animal Conservation, 6(4), 347-359.
  5. ↑ Sukumar, R. (1989). The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. Cambridge University Press, p. 18.
  6. ↑ Leimgruber, P., Gagnon, J. B., Wemmer, C., Kelly, D. S., Songer, M. A., & Selig, E. R. (2003). Fragmentation of Asia's remaining wildlands: implications for Asian elephant conservation. Animal Conservation, 6(4), 348.
  7. ↑ Food and Agriculture Organization. (2020). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. FAO, Rome, p. 124.
  8. ↑ Sukumar, R. (2003). The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation. Oxford University Press, p. 92.
  9. ↑ Food and Agriculture Organization. (2020). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. FAO, Rome, p. 126.
  10. ↑ Goswami, V. R., Medhi, K., Nichols, J. D., & Oli, M. K. (2015). Mechanistic understanding of human–wildlife conflict through a novel application of dynamic occupancy models. Conservation Biology, 29(4), 1100-1110.
  11. ↑ Goswami, V. R., Vasudev, D., & Oli, M. K. (2014). The importance of conflict-induced mortality for conservation planning in areas of human–elephant co-occurrence. Biological Conservation, 176, 191-198.
  12. ↑ Goswami, V. R., Vasudev, D., & Oli, M. K. (2014). The importance of conflict induced mortality for conservation planning in areas of human elephant co-occurrence. Biological Conservation, 176, 194.
  13. ↑ Asian Elephant Specialist Group. (2016-2017). Asian Elephant Range States Meeting Report. IUCN SSC.
  14. ↑ Asian Elephant Specialist Group. (2016-2017). Asian Elephant Range States Meeting Report. IUCN SSC.
  15. ↑ Hoare, R. (2015). Lessons from 20 years of human–elephant conflict mitigation in Africa. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 20(4), 289-295.
  16. ↑ Nyhus, P. J. (2016). Human–wildlife conflict and coexistence. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 41, 152.
  17. ↑ Fernando, P., Wikramanayake, E. D., Janaka, H. K., Jayasinghe, L. K. A., Gunawardena, M., Kotagama, S. W., Weerakoon, D., & Pastorini, J. (2008). Ranging behavior of the Asian elephant in Sri Lanka. Mammalian Biology, 73(1), 8.
  18. ↑ Gunn, J., Hawkins, D., Barnes, R. F. W., Mofulu, F., Grant, R. A., & Graham, M. D. (2014). The influence of lunar cycles on crop-raiding elephants; evidence for risk avoidance. African Journal of Ecology, 52(2), 130.
  19. ↑ Staver, A. C., Archibald, S., & Levin, S. A. (2011). The global extent and determinants of savanna and forest as alternative biome states. Science, 334(6053), 230-232.
  20. ↑ Sukumar, R. (1989). The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. Cambridge University Press, p. 156.
  21. ↑ Davidar, P., Sahoo, S., Mammen, P. C., Acharya, P., Puyravaud, J. P., Arjunan, M., Garrigues, J. P., & Roessingh, K. (2010). Assessing the extent and causes of forest degradation in India: Where do we stand? Biological Conservation, 143(12), 2940.
  22. ↑ Kodandapani, N., Cochrane, M. A., & Sukumar, R. (2004). Conservation threat of increasing fire frequencies in the Western Ghats, India. Conservation Biology, 18(6), 1555.
  23. ↑ DeFries, R., Hansen, A., Newton, A. C., & Hansen, M. C. (2005). Increasing isolation of protected areas in tropical forests over the past twenty years. Ecological Applications, 15(1), 19-26.
  24. ↑ Government of India. (2017). Project Elephant: Annual Report 2016-2017. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi, p. 12.
  25. ↑ Sawyer, H., Kauffman, M. J., Nielson, R. M., & Horne, J. S. (2009). Identifying and prioritizing ungulate migration routes for landscape-level conservation. Ecological Applications, 19(8), 2016-2025.
  26. ↑ Wildlife Conservation Society. (2019). Asian Elephant Conservation: Corridor Assessment Report. WCS Asia Program, Bronx, p. 28.
  27. ↑ Hoare, R. (2012). Lessons from 15 years of human-elephant conflict mitigation: management considerations involving biological, physical and governance issues in Africa. Pachyderm, 51, 60-74.
  28. ↑ Kioko, J., Zink, E., Sawdy, M., & Kiffner, C. (2013). Elephant (Loxodonta africana) Demography and Behaviour in the Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem, Tanzania. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 43(1), 44-51.
  29. ↑ King, L. E., Douglas-Hamilton, I., & Vollrath, F. (2011). Beehive fences as effective deterrents for crop-raiding elephants: field trials in northern Kenya. African Journal of Ecology, 49(4), 431-439.
  30. ↑ Barua, M., Bhagwat, S. A., & Jadhav, S. (2013). The hidden dimensions of human–wildlife conflict: Health impacts, opportunity and transaction costs. Biological Conservation, 157, 312.
  31. ↑ WWF Nepal. (2018). Community-Based Human-Elephant Conflict Management in Nepal. World Wildlife Fund Nepal Program Office, Kathmandu, p. 24.
  32. ↑ Roy, P. S., & Ravan, S. A. (1996). Biomass estimation using satellite remote sensing data. An investigation on possible approaches for natural forest. Journal of Biosciences, 21(4), 535-561.
  33. ↑ Patnaik, N., Sharma, Kunal, & Chaudhry, Pradeep. (2019). Kaziranga National Park of India: Some Wildlife and Tourism Management-Related Pressing Issues. 8127-8141.
  34. ↑ Das, D., Kumar, Vishavjit, Bora, Himangsu, Verma, P., Gogoi, P., Gogoi, Girish, & Vasu, N. (2020). Land Cover Mapping and Dynamics of Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India. Indian Forester, 140, 11-17.
  35. ↑ Kodandapani, N., Cochrane, M. A., & Sukumar, R. (2008). Fire regimes and their ecological effects in seasonally dry tropical ecosystems in the Western Ghats, India. In Fire in Tropical Ecosystems (pp. 18). Springer, Berlin.
  36. ↑ He, K., Fan, C., Zhong, M., Cao, F., Wang, G., & Cao, L. (2023). Evaluation of habitat suitability for Asian elephants in Sipsongpanna under climate change by coupling multi-source remote sensing products with MaxEnt model. Remote Sensing, 15(4), 3.
  37. ↑ Leimgruber, P., Senior, B., Aung, M., Songer, M. A., Mueller, T., Wemmer, C., & Ballou, J. D. (2008). Modeling population viability of captive elephants in Myanmar (Burma): implications for wild populations. Animal Conservation, 11, 198-205.
  38. ↑ Wilcove, D. S., Giam, X., Edwards, D. P., Fisher, B., & Koh, L. P. (2013). Navjot's nightmare revisited: logging, agriculture, and biodiversity in Southeast Asia. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(9), 535.
  39. ↑ Cochrane, M. A. (2003). Fire science for rainforests. Nature, 421(6926), 916.
  40. ↑ Williams, R. J., Gill, A. M., & Moore, P. H. R. (1998). Seasonal changes in fire behaviour in a tropical savanna in northern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 8(4), 227-239.
  41. ↑ Desai, A. A., & Riddle, H. S. (2015). Human-elephant conflict in Asia. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Asian Elephant Support, p. 6.
  42. ↑ Lorimer, J. (2010). Elephants as companion species: the lively biogegraphies of Asian elephant conservation in Sri Lanka. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35(4), 495.
  43. ↑ Lorimer, J. (2010). Elephants as companion species: the lively biogeographies of Asian elephant conservation in Sri Lanka. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35(4), 500.
  44. ↑ Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1255.
  45. ↑ Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1258.
  46. ↑ van der Ploeg, J., Cauilan-Cureg, M., van Weerd, M., & de Boer, W. F. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness of environmental education: mobilizing public support for Philippine crocodile conservation. Conservation Letters, 4(4), 315.
  47. ↑ Bookbinder, M. P., Dinerstein, E., Rijal, A., Cauley, H., & Rajouria, A. (1998). Ecotourism's support of biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology, 12(6), 1401
  48. ↑ Rodger, K., Moore, S. A., & Newsome, D. (2009). Wildlife tourism, science and actor network theory. Annals of Tourism Research, 36(4), 654.
  49. ↑ Muradian, R., Corbera, E., Pascual, U., Kosoy, N., & May, P. H. (2010). Reconciling theory and practice: An alternative conceptual framework for understanding payments for environmental services. Ecological Economics, 69(6), 1204.
  50. ↑ Miller, D. C., Agrawal, A., & Roberts, J. T. (2013). Biodiversity, governance, and the allocation of international aid for conservation. Conservation Letters, 6(1), 15.
  51. ↑ Nijman, V. (2010). An overview of international wildlife trade from Southeast Asia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(4), 1105.
  52. ↑ Nijman, V. (2010). An overview of international wildlife trade from Southeast Asia. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(4), 1109.
  53. ↑ Hilty, J. A., Lidicker Jr, W. Z., & Merenlender, A. M. (2006). Corridor Ecology: The Science and Practice of Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation. Island Press, Washington DC, p. 89.
  54. ↑ Williams, R. J., Gill, A. M., & Moore, P. H. R. (1998). Seasonal changes in fire behaviour in a tropical savanna in northern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 8(4), 235.
  55. ↑ En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Writing better articles. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].


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