The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Camera-trapping of tuskers can help fight poaching’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Camera-trapping of tuskers can help fight poaching’

Alladi Jayasri

A study was conducted in Nagarahole National Park and Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Asian elephants are now found in 59 distinct ranges across 13 countries
Male Asian elephants are vulnerable to danger from ivory poachers

Enjoying themselves: A file photo of an elephant herd in the Kabini backwaters in Nagarahole National Park.

BANGALORE: Camera-trapping, which has been successfully used to estimate the population of tigers in the wild, can now become the best method to protect adult male Asian elephants (Elephas Maximus), which are vulnerable to danger from ivory poachers and conflict with humans, more than the threats of habitat loss and degradation.

The Asian elephants are now found in 59 distinct ranges across 13 Asian countries, and researchers are unanimous in their agreement that the species is under grave threat across Asia. Unlike their African cousins, only male Asian elephants possess tusks. So the risk of mortality from ivory poaching and conflict with humans is considerably higher.

A study by Varun R. Goswami of the Wildlife Conservation Studies, as part of dissertation for his master’s in Wildlife Conservation at the National Centre for Biological Studies here, has now shown that camera-trapping can help save these animals.

Mr. Goswami, guided by wildlife biologists K. Ullas Karanth and M.D. Madhusudan, conducted the study in Nagarahole National Park and Bandipur Tiger Reserve, choosing a 176 sq.km. of contiguous corridor straddling the Kabini reservoir that supports dense congregations of elephants between February and May. In these dry months, the backwaters recede to expose a fertile draw-down area rich in grasses forage. An extensive road network and a high density of water-holes allowed the study area to be studied intensively, maximising the probability of encountering elephants.

Across a road network totalling 261 km, and waterholes within the chosen area, all male elephants sighted were systematically described and photographed, and the group size and composition were recorded for all herds encountered. For all male elephants, wherever possible, frontal pictures were taken with the head down, when the animal was not alarmed, showing tusk and ear morphology, profile pictures for both flanks to ascertain tusk angle and tail length to recognise brush type. In the 50 days of field sampling, 172 bull encounters were recorded. Of this 135 were found to be useful in ascertaining identities. The probability of two individual sharing the same combination of characters was computed to be 0.007 or once in every 143 sightings. The total number of unique animals was found to be 78, including three “makhnas” (tuskless males).

Mr. Goswami said the study emphasised the well-known fact that ivory poaching not only depressed adult male numbers, it imposed a cost from an evolutionary perspective, and affected the reproductive potential of a population. “Robust estimates of adult male elephant numbers and adult sex ratios are keys to monitoring the impact of poaching but other scientists have also established that the status of elephant populations can be understood and evaluated only when information on rates of poaching is available,” he said. Elephant specialist R. Sukumar and scientists Madhusudan and Mishra have also noted that adult male elephants have greater proclivity for conflict with humans, which arises from their need to raid crops to maximise nutritional benefits. “This implies that knowing the identities of rogue bulls or males inclined to raiding crops, managers will be better equipped to strengthen barriers,” Mr. Goswami pointed out.

The study has been published in the August 2007 issue of Animal Conservation.

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