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CHAPTER I

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The Asian elephant is one of the last few megaherbivores (i.e. those plant-eating

mammals that reach an adult body weight in excess of 1,000kg) still extant on earth and are

the largest mammalian herbivores (Owen-Smith, Op. cit).

The Asian elephant is also one of the world's most important charismatic 'flagship'

species. It is also known as a 'Keystone' species in Africa, to emphasize the vital role it plays

in the structuring of natural ground communities in Africa (Dublin et al., 1997). Sukumar

(1996) also described Asian elephant as a keystone species across the biologically rich

forests of tropical Asia, which has dominated the social, economic and political life of

people as has no other creature on this earth. Thus the conservation of the elephant will

ensure the maintenance of biological diversity across a much larger area.

The Asian elephant has been placed under the important conservation category for

giving emphasis on its conservation across the globe. The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972

(WPA-1972), which superseded all other wildlife legislation in the country, initially

including the elephant under Schedule-II of the Act. This implied that elephant was 'Special

Game' which could be killed or captured on the basis of a license issued by the Chief

Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of the State or any other authorized officer (Bist, 2006).. The

trade in ivory continued to be outside legal control. The recognition that the Asian elephant

was an endangered species and needed special protection, came after the inclusion of this

species in Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

of Wild Fauna and Flora) in 1975 and the formation of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant

Specialist Group in 1976. Consequently, the elephant was transferred to Schedule I of the

WPA, 1972 on 5 October, 1977 (Bist, Op. cit.). This implied a ban on hunting and capturing

of elephants except for some specified purpose (Bist, Op. cit.). The Forest (Conservation)

Act of 1980 (FCA-1980), brought the process of deforestation of elephant habitats under

control. As a result of the revision in the Import-Export Policy of Government of India in

1978, 1987 and 1990 and amendments to the WPA-1972 in 1986 and 1991, the domestic

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and international trade in ivory was totally prohibited, thereby plugging a major legal

loophole in the protection of elephants (Bist, 2006).

There are several historical records, such as the Kautilya Arthasastra, that indicate

legal protection for elephants by rulers of the sub-continent about 2,000 years back

(Rangarajan, 1992). In more recent times, efforts for the conservation of the elephant in

British India were initiated with the promulgation of the Madras Wild Elephant Preservation

Act of 1873. Soon after, the Indian Government enacted the Elephant Preservation Act

1879, which applied to the entire country (Bist, 2006). This Act, along with the Indian

Forest Act of 1927 (IFA-1927) and certain other State Acts, remained a major legal tool for

protecting elephants in most parts of the country until 1972. But, all these Acts were quite

liberal as regards capturing of elephants and permitted their killing under the pretext of

protecting crops and public property. Ivory trade was kept outside the purview of law and

there was no serious attempt to protect the habitat of elephants. As a result, the elephant

population in the country continued to decline over the years.

About 6,000 years ago, at the dawn of human civilization, the Asian elephant

(Elephas maximus) enjoyed a much wider geographic distribution and higher numbers than

it does today. During that period, its range was extended from Mesopotamia in the west

across the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia and China, as far north at least as the

Yangtze-Kian (Santiapillai and Sukumar, 2006). Today as indicated in the map, the Asian

elephant is distributed discontinuously in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar,

Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah (Malaysian part of Borneo), Kalimantan (Indonesian

Part of Borneo), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, south-eastern China and the island of Sumatra

(Indonesia) and Sri Lanka (Santiapillai and Jackson,1990; Kemf and Santiapillai, 2000). A

small feral population occurs in the Andaman Islands (India).

Dorji (1997) has spotted elephants in areas as high up as 2,700 meters at Show-gay-

la, above Gedu and between 8-15 elephants were regularly seen during that time below

Gedu at an altitude of 2,300 meter above sea level. Katugaha et al. (1999) described that

Asian elephant was once widely distributed across much of Sri Lanka from sea level to

altitude of over 2000m.

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The elephant is an apex species and has high interaction with its habitat, particularly

in its quest for food to influence the direction of development of its biotic environment. It

has been one of the causes for the process of ecosystem change.

The elephant has always been considered as an embodiment of strength, size and

intelligence. It has been looked upon with mixed feelings of love, worship and fear. The

human culture in elephant range countries is so clearly associated with the elephant that it

was the subject of a number of classical works of literature (Easa, 2005). The elephants, like

other wildlife have lost so much of their former habitat, that they are often forced to invade

the communities that have displaced them (Caufield, 1984).

1.2 Taxonomy

The taxonomical study of the Asian elephant has started since the latter half of the

18th

century. The foundation of the Asian elephant taxonomic classification was laid by the

Linnaeus (1758). The Asian elephant presently has four subspecies viz. Elephas m.

maximus, Elephas m. indicus, Elephas m. sumatranus and Elephas m. borneensis. The

taxonomy of Asian elephant is as follows-

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Proboscidea

Family: Elephantidae

Subfamily:Elephantinae

Genus: Elephas

Species: maximus (Asian elephant)

Subspecies: Elephas m. maximus (Sri Lankan Asian elephant)

Subspecies: Elephas m. indicus (Mainland Asian elephant/India and

Indochina)

Subspecies: Elephas m. sumatranus (Sumatran Asian elephant)

Subspecies: Elephas m. borneensis (Borneo Pygmy elephant)

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Until recently, four subspecies of the Asian elephant were recognized by zoologist as

valid: Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, Elephas maximus indicus from the Asian

mainland, Elephas maximus sumatranus from the island of Sumatra (Indonesia) (Santiapillai

and Sukumar, 2006) and Elephas maximus borneensis from Borneo (Fernando et al., 2003).

From our present understanding of the molecular genetics of Asian elephants though, there

is no support for the subspecies status of the Sri Lankan elephant population (Elephas

maximus maximus) and its differentiation from those in the Asian mainland (Elephas

maximus indicus) (Fernando et al., 2000; Sukumar, 2003). However, DNA analysis carried

out by Fernando et al. (2003) indicates that elephants in Borneo, on the basis of their genetic

distinctiveness and evolutionary history constitute a separate subspecies, Elephas maximus

borneensis, thereby extending the natural range of the Asian elephant by1, 300 km. More

recent studies of elephant genetics (Fernando et al., 2000, 2003; Vidya et al., 2003) are

beginning to provide a much better understanding of the evolutionary history and population

genetic structure of the species across its range, such information provides a firmer basis for

conservation priorities and management decisions.

But, all the subspecies population found in different parts of world are under the

threat from habitat destruction, habitat alteration, habitat shrinkage, habitat fragmentation,

poaching, human elephant conflict in its all present ranges.

1.3 Evolution of the Asian elephant

The direct ancestors of Asian and African elephants appeared about five million

years ago in Africa. They evolved from an animal, about the size of a large pig, named

Moeritherium, whose 50 million-year-old remains have been found near Fayyum, in Egypt

(Kemf and Jackson, 1995). Moeritherium had no trunk, but its descendants evolved into

more than 30 species trunked animals, all long extinct (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.). Some

of them were much larger than today’s elephant and they lived in north and South America

as well as Africa and Asia (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.).

The Asian elephant evolved from a form in Africa called Primelephas. The family

grew to more than 20 species, including mammoths, which spread into Eurasia and to

Americas (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.). Mammoths were closely related to living elephants

especially to the Asian elephants. One of the best known was the wooly mammoth, which

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was about the same height as the average Asian elephant-3meter at the shoulder. It was

widely depicted in Stone Age cave paintings dating back 20,000 years and deep-frozen

carcasses have been uncovered in Siberia, complete with woolly hair and stomach contents.

1.4 Difference between Asian elephant and African elephant

The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephants and has the highest body

point at the head against at the shoulder. The ears of Asian elephant are smaller, the tip of

the trunk has one finger-like process instead of two and 20 pairs of ribs and 34 caudal

vertebrae (Sikes, 1971) instead of 21 and 33 respectively (Shoshani and Eisenberg, 1982).

Only males of Asian elephant carry tusks, unlike both sexes in the African elephant. The

Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, is not only a separate species from its African cousin

Loxodonta africana, but is placed in a different genus. It is smaller, although large males

still weigh upto 5,000 kg and many reach more than 3.5 m in height. It is easily

distinguished because its ears are much smaller and its back slightly rounded or flat, unlike

the concave saddle-back of the African species (Kemf and Jackson, 1995). Asian elephant

have a “finger” on the upper tip of the trunk, while African elephants have a second on the

lower tip; and twin mounds on the forehead instead of the African’s single dome (Kemf and

Jackson, Op. cit.).

1.5 Elephant and Human Culture

Emperor and rulers throughout tropical Asia kept thousands of elephants, which they

used for ceremonies, hunting and war (Kemf and Jackson, 1995). Some were employed

executioners to temple trample and condemned. For Asian people however, the elephant had

greater significance than merely as a beast of burden or war. It has been an inseparable part

of their life and culture (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.). Ancient Hindu works frequently refer

to elephants and there was major works done on elephant’s lore, the Gajasastra (Kemf and

Jackson, Op. cit.).

The relationship between man and elephant in Asia is so unique that, the animal has

become sacred and beloved symbol to millions of people. The association of the Asian

elephant with man began in the misty past, thousands of years ago. Perhaps baby elephants,

isolated from their herds, were tamed by forest people, who found they could be ridden and

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taught to obey commands. Ancient Hindu works refer frequently to elephants and one of the

most popular gods to this day is the elephant-headed Ganesh, son of Siva, one of the most

important deities of the Hindu Pantheon and consort Parvati (Santiapillai and Sukumar,

2006). As the God of Wisdom and Removal of obstacles, Ganesh is being worshiped by

Hindus at the beginning of any important undertaking (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.).

For the Buddhists, too, the elephant has special significance. Before Gautam

Buddha’s birth his mother, Maya, dreamt that a white elephant entered her side. Wise men

told her that, it was a sign for giving birth to a great man (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.). The

white elephant features in many Buddhist stirie and has been bloody wars over ownership of

the rare white elephants found in wild. Even today any white elephant captured in Thailand

automatically belongs to the King (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.).

Elephants continue to be stars of oriental pageantry. In Sri Lanka, against

caparisoned tusker, escorted by other richly decorated elephants, carries the reputed tooth of

the Buddha in stately procession at the annual Esala Perahera festival in Kandy (Kemf and

Jackson, Op. cit.). Many Hindu temples in south India maintain stables of elephants for

ceremonial occasions. In Mysore, South India, the great autumn festival of Dussehra is

famous for its parade of elephants painted with colourful designs and draped with rich cloth.

Ceremonial elephants also carry the royal family and their guests at the coronation of King

of Nepal before the Democratic Government has started.

In Vietnam’s central highlands, annual elephant races are still held every spring and

in some tribal village graves are decorated with elephant tusk carved out of dipterocarp

trees. Laos was called “the land of a million elephants” and its flag still bears the symbol of

the elephant (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.).

The Chinese prediction for animal medicines included parts of the elephant. Ivory

parings were used as diuretic and for epilepsy, osteomyelitis, smallpox, jaundice and female

sterility. The elephant flesh was prescribed for bald spots, bile for halitosis, eyeball mashed

in human milk for eye diseases, skin for injuries and ulcers,; and bone as an antidote for

poisons, as well as for vomiting, diarrhea and poor appetite.

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In the past, elephants provided safe mounts for hunting tigers and rhinos (Kemf and

Jackson, Op. cit.). During the recent days in most of the National Parks or other protected

areas, elephants are used for the tourist safari to observe the wild animals from a closer

distance. The elephants are also used by the Forest department personnel in anti-poaching

patrolling, population census, chasing the crop depredating animals and transportation to the

remote location inside forests. The wildlife researchers and filmmakers are also using the

elephant very extensively for doing research and photography.

Most circus elephants are Asian elephants. Their skills demonstrate the control they

have over their hind legs; however is not just a circus trick. Elephants in the wild do this to

reach high branches for taking its as food (Kemf and Jackson, Op. cit.).

1.6 Historical Distribution

Much archaeological evidence and numerous literacy references attest to a unique

relationship between human and elephant in India, since the third millennium BC, when the

first records of tamed elephants were noted and presumable going back well before this date.

It is hard for us to imagine what might have led to human overcoming his natural fear for

such an awesome animal and also being inspired with the idea of taming it and putting it to

work.

The earlier records of tamed elephants were engravings of not later than 2500 BC,

from Mohenjo-Daro on the lower Indus. How it all began is pure speculation? Perhaps, stray

calves taken as pets sparked the idea. Once started, it was obviously much easier to find and

capture elephants than it is today and thus a cultural relationship with elephants grew and

became an inseparable part of local religion, mythology, wars and everyday life in a way

(Olivier, 1978b).

All this is recorded in many ancient documents, particularly the collection known as

the ‘Gajasastra’ (in Sanskrit) for elephant lore. Other outstanding documents are the Rig

Veda of the 20th

-15th

centuries BC and the Upanishads of the 9th

-6th

centuries BC, of which

the Chandogya Upanishad displays considerable ecological knowledge of elephants. These

and other sources confirm the presence of wild elephants and other large mammals at one

time or another in Iran, Baluchistan, Hindu Kush, Punjab, Sind, the Indus Valley, Rajasthan

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and throughout the Ganges valley, over nearly all of which the elephant is now extinct

(Olivier, 1978b).

Mugal literature points to a steady eastward retreat of the elephant, induced no doubt

by centuries of trapping and hunting for ivory and sport, together with side effects of man’s

agricultural and pastoral activities, which may also have gradually altered the wider area to

today’s rather arid conditions.

There are records of elephants occurring in this period throughout Uttar Pradesh up

to the Yamuna River near Delhi and of their capture by Kheddah Sikar in the country of the

Gonds, near Mandla, in the centre of present day Madhya Pradesh. Digby (1971) records

elephant trade and trapping in Bengal, the Deccan and Orissa. They were also found in the

Bombay region and in the present day Allahabad area in south central Uttar Pradesh, in

Ganges basin, where enough elephants remained in 1530 to support an elephant-trapping

profession. The prize elephant of the Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) had been caught in

Rajasthan, from where they disappear before 1985 (Olivier, 1978b). Jerdon (1874) tells of

Asian elephant throughout Assam and the sub-Himalayan terai west to Dehradun.

Hunter (1879) was the first to provide information regarding trade of captured

elephants in Assam. In 1976 the Government planned to allow capture of 150 to 200

elephants a year which they estimated would be enough to pay for the expenses of the

district administration (GBP7,790.10s in 1875-76) (Hunter, 1879).

Asian elephants once ranged over a vast area from the Tigris and Euphrates in West

Asia to South East Asia (Olivier, 1978b). However, the present distribution is confined in

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal,

Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam (Santiapillai, 1987) (Figure 1.1).

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Figure 1.1 Map showing the past and present distribution range of Asian elephant

(Santiapillai and Sukumar, 2006).

1.7 Elephant History in Assam

The Asian elephant has been associated with the Assam’s culture and history from

the very beginning. As Bhagadutta, the King of Pragjyotishpur (Present Guwahati) joined in

the battle of Kurushetra with his thousands of elephants, it is quite likely that, elephants

used to be caught in Assam from the very ancient time of the "Mahabharata" (Das,????).

Elephants have always been an integral part of Assam's myth and folklore, history and

culture heritage. The great king of Assam, Kumar Bhaskar Varma's (594 to 650 AD official

seal was an elephant (Anon, 2009).

In Assam, when the Mughal general, Mir Jumlah, occupied 'Garhgaon' the Ahom

capital, in March, 1662, he was able to seize their 82 elephants (Guha, 1983). This shows

that, in Assam, the domestication of Asian elephant had started much before. In 1735 AD

Sukumar Barkayeth authored the Hastividyarnava under the order of Ahom King

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“Sivasinga” and his queen “Ambika Devi”. The important position which the animal held as

one of the four-fold divisions of the army during the pre-Ahom period, which continued

during the long period of Ahom history. There are five methods prevalent for elephant

capturing, out of which three methods were prevalent in Assam (Das,????). This hunting

operation dates back to the days, when Assam was ruled by Ahom Kings, who appointed

'Hati-Phukan', 'Hati-Barphukan', 'Hati-BonBorua' etc. for catching, training and

management of elephants under them (Das,????).

Once the Bargohain’s division of Ahom Royal military captured three elephants in a

Kheda operation, of which two formed the royal share and one was given to Bargohain

(Guha, 1983). Some historical information including capture and training is found in Gee

(1964) and Stracey (1963), while some information on its status in north-eastern India in the

late 1970s, largely based upon secondary sources, is found in Lahiri-Choudhury (1980).

Brief accounts on a few specific areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and

Meghalaya are found in writings of Choudhury (1991, 1992, 1993a, b, 1995, 1998) and

William and Johnsingh (1996a). During the time of oil exploration during British Period, the

Asian elephant were used for oil hunts and transportation of oil pipes and other machineries

in Digboi oilfields (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2. Elephant Cart used in Digboi Oil fields, Assam

(Source: Gogan Chandra Saikia).

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1.8 Past Stocks of Tame Elephant

In the north Indus area, where the import of tame elephants had begun as early as the

3rd

century BC, stocks of war elephants dropped from about 1500 in the Ghaznavid period

11th

century, 120 in 1398, during the Delhi Sultanate (Olivier, 1978b). The three major

centres for capturing wild elephants appear to have been Bengal, Ceylon and Pegu (lower

Burma) Madras imported elephants not only from Ceylon, but even from Malays as late as

the 18th

century, part of a separate Far Eastern trade. By such means the Mugal emperors

were able to build up a larger pil-khana than the Delhi Sultanate-1400 war elephants in

1452AD and 3000 between 1463AD and 1482AD. The Emperor Jahangir was reputed to

have 12,000, with over 40,000 in his whole empire (Olivier, 1978b).

The vast numbers of tame animals held from the 11th

to 17th

centuries, which easily

outnumber estimates for the total wild population in the world today, must reflect the fact

that there were considerably more in the wild then now. This is especially true for the

original main trapping centres and so on the following regional reports, trends in tame stocks

area quoted as above, particularly where it is believed they originated locally, to suggest

probable parallel trends in wild populations.

1.9 Present Distribution

The historical range of the elephant in India has shrunk, confining the elephants into

distinct geographical zones (Ali, 1927; Daniel, 1980; Jerdon, 1874). Elephants in the

Andaman and Nicobar islands are considered to be feral and are the descendants of a captive

stock (Easa, 2005). The Indian sub-continent has an estimated population of about 27000-

29000 elephants, which is about 50% of the world population (Easa, Op. cit.). These ranges

in 11 Elephant Reserves spread over within 110,000 km2 forest in north-east, central, north-

west and south India (Bist, 2002).

Elephants in North-East India range in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,

Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura (Easa, 2005). The North-Eastern

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elephant was contiguous with that of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar. The 9000-odd

elephant in the region area now discontinuously distributed and exists as 15 populations in

an area of about 8900 km2 (Choudhury, 1999).

The elephants in northern West Bengal form the western most extension of the north-

east Indian elephant population. There are about 300 elephants in this region spread over

Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri district covering nine forest divisions (Easa, 2005).

The north-western elephant population in India was once distributed over parts of

Uttar Pradesh from Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to the Yamuna River (Singh, 1978).

Currently the elephant occupies about 10,000 km2 forests in the outer Himalaya and the

Shivalik Hill ranges and parts of the terai and Bhabar tracts (Easa, 2005). The elephant

habitats in central India extend over 17000 km2 in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand and

Southern West Bengal and hold a population of about 2400-2700 (Easa, 2005).

Biogeographically, this region falls in the Chhota Nagpur plateau in the north of the Eastern

Ghats (Rodgers and Panwar, 1985).

The south Indian population is distributed over the Western Ghats and parts of the

Eastern Ghats in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Sukumar, 1989a). Most of the

elephant ranges in this region are hilly with the tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist

deciduous, dry deciduous and dry thorn forest in addition to high altitude grasslands and

forest plantations (Easa, 2005).

In the past, the elephant population of the north used to migrate freely from one end

to the other from the river Yamuna to the river Brahmaputra, traveling a maximum distance

of approximately 1,300 kilometers as per their requirements in the foothills of Himalayas

(Singh and Sharma, 2001) (Figure 1.3).

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Figure 1.3 Map showing the present distribution status of Asian elephant in India (Vidya

et al., 2005).

1.10 Population

The total population of Asian elephant in the wild is estimated between about 36,000

and 52,000 (Santiapipillai and Sukumar, 2006) (Table 1.1). The Asian elephant population

in all over the world is facing threat in all its distribution ranges. Nevertheless, the lust for

‘white gold’ has a serious impact, for when tuskers are killed before they have breed, their

valuable genes are lost forever and, as such, tuskless could ultimately become the norm

(Santiapillai and Jackson, 1990). Regional variation in number or proportion of tuskers in

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the male segment may reflect the intensity of past hunting for ivory or selective capture of

tusked males, a process that has been going on for thousands of years (Santiapillai and

Sukumar, 2006).

Table 1.1 Showing the minimum and maximum population of Asian elephant in Wild

(2006).

Country Zones/

Area

Area

(Km2)

Elephant range

(km2)

Minimum-Maximum

Bangladesh 147570 190-230

Bhutan 46600 250-500

Cambodia 181035 400-600

China 9579000 170-200

India 3287590 22,800-32,400)

South 39,500) 10,300-17,400)

Central 23500 2,400-2,700)

North-East 41000 9,200-11,300)

North-

West

5500 900-1,000)

Indonesia 1919440 105000 1,180-1,500

Kalimantan 550,200) c.5,000 ?-?

Sumatra 524,100) c.100,000 1,180-1,557

Laos 236800 c.20,000 780-1,200

Malaysia 329750 c.45,000 2,250-3,000

Peninsular (c.20,000) 1,251-1,466

Sabah (c.25,000) 1,100-1,600

Myanmar 678000 115000 4,000-5,300

Nepal 141400 c.2,500 100-130

Sri Lanka 65610 c.15,000 2,100-3,000

Thailand 513115 25000 2,500-3,000

Vietnam 340000 c.3,000 70-100

Total 17465910 486800 36,790-51,160

(Source: Santiapillai and Sukumar, 2006.)

1.11 Population of Asian elephant in India

The population data on the Asian elephant is available from the year 1980. The

Asian elephant population in India is in increasing trend from 1980 to the last census in the

year 2007. The population of Asian elephant in India during the year 1980 was 15,627

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individuals; in the year 1985 it was 18,795; in the year 1989 it was 20,862; in the year 1993

it was 25,604; in the year 1997 it was 25,877; in the year 2002 it was 26,413; and in the year

2007 it was 27,694 individuals (Figure 1.4; Table 1.2).

Figure 1.4 Showing the total population of Asian elephant during different past

census in India (Source: Official website of Ministry of Environment and Forest,

2011).

Table 1.2 Showing the regional population of Asian elephant during the census of 2007.

Region State Elephant Population

1993 1997 2002 2007-2008

North-East Arunachal 2102 1800 1607 1690

Assam 5524 5312 5246 5281

Meghalaya 2872 1840 1868 1811

Nagaland 178 158 145 152

Mizoram 15 22 33 12

Manipur 50 30 12 Nil

Tripura 100 70 40 59

West Bengal

(North) 186 250 292

300-350

Total for North-

East 11027 9482 9243

9305-9355

East West Bengal

(South) 14 26 36 25

Jharkhand 550 618 772 624

Orissa 1750 1800 1841 1862

Chhattisgarh _ _ _ 122

Total for East 2314 2444 2649 2633

15627

1897520862

25604 25877 2641327694

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

1980 1985 1989 1993 1997 2002 2007

Tota

l P

ou

lati

on

in

In

dia

Year

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North Uttarakhand 828 1130 1582 1346

U.P. 47 70 85 380

Total for North 875 1200 1667 1726

South Tamilnadu 2307 2971 3052 3867

Karnataka 5500 6088 5838 4035

Kerala 3500 3600 3850 6068

Andhra Pradesh 46 57 74 28

Maharashtra _ _ _ 7

Total for South 11353 12716 12814 14005

Islands

Andaman &

Nicobar 35 35 40

NA

Grand Total 25604 25877 26413 27669-27719

Mid Value-

27694

Source: Official website of Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India, 2011)

1.12 Population in Manas National Park

The population census of Manas has been started from the year 1970-80. But, due to

initiation of the political unrest in the region the illegal hunting and poaching had increased

and the population of Asian elephant starts declining. The total population of Asian elephant

during 1979-80, 1993 and 2002 were 1216, 522 and 567 respectively (Table 1.3).

Table 1.3 Showing the past population Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

Year/

Age-

Sex

Adult Sub Adult Juvenile Sol Calf Total

T M F US T M F US T M F US M

1979-

80

36 31 464 - 116 291 278 - - - - ? 1216

1993 37 52 164 22 28 28 41 27 - 25 22 0 76 522

2002 10 107 180 26 14 28 44 18 7 13 23 6 1 90 567

T-Tusker; M-Makhana (male without tusk); F-Female; US-unsexed

(Source: Office of the Project Tiger, Manas, Assam)

1.13 Ecology

Elephants are extreme generalists and have adapted to a wide range of habitat types,

ranging from dry thorn forest to wet evergreen forests. They are able to do this, since they

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are able to live on a wide variety of food plants (Desai, 2001). While they are dependent on

grass for the bulk of their diet in the deciduous forests that are dominated by grass. They can

live almost entirely on browse (woody plants) and fruits in evergreen forest, where there is

no grass (Desai, Op. cit.). However, Sukumar and Santiapillai (2006) described that,

elephants are less discriminating than other herbivores in what they eat. While bulk of time

is spent on feeding, water is also a very important and critical resource for elephants. In

addition to the need for drinking, elephants also need water to cool themselves (Desai,

2001). Their ears act like radiators and hot blood coming into the ears is cooled by several

degrees centigrade and sent back into the body. They bath in water to cool themselves

(Desai, Op. cit.).

Elephants rest twice in a day, once during the hot hours of the day and the other just

before dawn. Like horses, they can sleep while standing but they also lie down and sleep.

Calves always lie down and rest (Desai, 2001).

1.14 Social Organization

The social organization of elephants is interesting, with males and females having

different social organization. Males are solitary, while females live in herds. The female

society is matriarchal and the oldest female is the leader of the family (Desai, 2001). The

size of the family units varies depending on the number of dependent offspring (Desai, Op.

cit.). Association between family units of a mother and her adult daughters, between several

adult sisters and even between cousins. In a clan, all the related family units have been

found. The clan represents the largest cohesive unit within an elephant population (Desai,

Op. cit.). The clan members associate with each other regularly, they do not normally mix or

associate with members of other clans. Living in close-knit social units also ensures that the

whole group responds to any threat (Desai, Op. cit.).

Males live largely solitary lives and do not really form strong bonds or associations

with other males or female social units (Desai, 2001). Being social animal, males will

however, associate temporarily with any other elephants (males or females) that they may

encounter during their normal activities and associate for short periods of time with female

herds for breeding (Desai, Op. cit.).

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1.15 Home Ranges

Both, clans and solitary males, have specific home ranges within which they live

their entire lives if undisturbed and if habitat condition remains suitable. As resources (food,

water and shelter) are not uniformly distributed over the forest, the elephants need to have

good knowledge of where the resources are available in order to survive. Such information

cannot be gathered and used if from elephants keep moving randomly over the entire forest

area (Desai, 2001). Over time, clans search, find and remember what resources are found

where and they then repeatedly use these resources. Clans therefore develop an intimate

knowledge about resource availability within a fixed area that will sustain them through

different seasons and over the years. This area is known as the home range (Desai, Op. cit.).

The differences in the home range areas in different habitat types have been observed in

both, the Asian and the African elephant.

1.16 Breeding Biology

The elephant is a polygynous species. Although males are sexually mature when they

are about 15 years old, they may not actually be able to mate until 20 or 25 due to social

reasons (Sukumar and Santiapillai, 1993). Female Asian elephant usually give birth to their

first calf when they are 12 to 17 years old. Typically, a female elephant produces a calf

every 4.5 to 5.0 year (McKay 1973; Sukumar, 1989b). Mortality rate over 5 years average

only 1 % to 3 % per annum in females and up to 6% per annum in males under natural

conditions (Sukumar, Op. cit.).

1.17 Elephant Corridors

The elephant corridors play an important role for the survival of the Asian elephant

in the today’s fragmented forests especially in India. Menon et al. (2005) evaluated 88

elephant corridor in India. Approximately 41 % of the Asian elephant corridors are found in

North-Eastern India and northern West Bengal. There is an inverse relationship between

forest cover available in elephant ranging states and number of corridors in each state,

indicating greater fragmentation of the smaller forest habitats (Menon et al., Op. cit.). On a

zonal basis, the highest numbers of corridors were seen in northern West Bengal that has

one corridor for every 157 km2 of available elephant habitat. Similarly for North-Eastern

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India, one corridor exists for every 1764 km2 and northern India one in every 460 Km

2

(Menon et al., Op. cit.). Of the identified corridors, about one third (30%) are of ecologically

high priority and 67 % are of medium priority (Menon et al., Op. cit.). Based on

conservation feasibility, 19.3 % are of high priority, 55.7 % of medium and 25 % of low

priority (Menon et al., Op. cit.).

1.18 Project Elephant

The Project Elephant (PE) was launched by the Government of India in the year

1991-92 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the objectives –a. To protect elephants, their

habitat & corridors, b. To address issues of man-animal conflict and c. Welfare of

domesticated elephants.

Financial and technical supports are being provided to major elephant bearing States

in the country. The Project is being mainly implemented in 13 States / UTs , viz. Andhra

Pradesh , Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Meghalaya ,

Nagaland , Orissa , Tamil Nadu , Uttaranchal , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Small

support is also being given to Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Under Elephant project the North-East India there are nine elephant reserves viz.

Kameng Elephant Reserve, Sonitpur Elephant Reserve, Dihing-Patkai Elephant Reserve,

South Arunachal Elephant Reserve, Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve, Dhansiri-

Lungding Elephant Reserve, Intanki Elephant Reserve, Chirang Ripu Elephant Reserve and

Eastern Dooars Elephant Reserve.

1.19 Threats

Throughout its range the Asian elephant is increasingly being confronted by socio-

economic and political pressures that threaten to destroy the very habitats set aside for its

long-term survival in wild (Sukumar and Santiapillai, 2006). The conservation of the Asian

elephants in India is not possible without the political will and commitment as the

implementation of many of the conservation recommendations outlined here will be

impossible. Government commitment and action must be obviously based on sound

ecological, economic and cultural arguments for conservation of the elephant in the light of

its positive values and negative impacts on the environment. Most elephants now share their

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habitat with shifting cultivators. Shifting cultivation is particularly characteristic of

mountainous regions in the tropics, as it is peculiarly suited to conditions prevalent there.

Despite the often direct exploitation of elephants by Asian shifting-cultivators, the elephant

continues to survive in close proximity with them as it may have centuries (Olivier, 1978b).

Assam, the North-Eastern state of India, with its thick evergreen forests, green hills

and abundant natural sources of water is considered one of the last bastions of the Asian

elephants. Large herds of wild elephants once roamed in the forests of the region was abode

to thousands of wild elephants. Clearing large tracts of elephant habitat for tea estates,

resettlement of farmers displaced by flood and erosion of the mighty Brahmaputra and

tributaries, land conversion by politically motivated transmigration of farmers from within

and outside the state as well as the neighboring foreign countries, have rapidly dwindled the

centuries old virgin forests and wild herds are becoming homeless in their own abode

(Sarma, 2007). Hence, in the state of Assam, the Asian elephant population is also under

threat from habitat destruction and depletion.

The main reason for the Asian elephant’s decline is the drastic habitat loss due to

habitat fragmentation, expanding human populations and growing resource demands

(Sukumar, 1989b). In all the Asian elephant distribution range habitat depletion resulted into

the venture of the elephant into the human habitation areas resulting into human-elephant

conflict. The Asian elephant Elephas maximus is a large bodied animal requiring large areas

to roam. Threat from the diseases transmitted by the domestic animals as they enter into the

Asian elephant habitats from the nearby fringe villages erupting as one of the threat to the

Asian elephant. Richman et al. (1999) have identified a cause of an unknown disease and

respectively, the virus was identified as EEHV. This virus is known as endotheliotropic

herpesvirus (Richman et al., Op. cit.) is a major threat to infant elephants in captivity

(Ossent et al., 1990). This new emerging threat plays a crucial role for the survival of Asian

elephant.

1.20 Human elephant conflict

Despite the special esteem in which the elephant is held in Asia, the relationship

between humans and elephants has undergone a drastic change, contraction and loss of

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habitats made it antagonistic (Lahiri-Choudhury, 1988a). People encroach on the elephant’s

land; elephants eat the crops cultivated on the occupied land; people strike out at elephants

for doing this; elephant retaliate. This is the crux of the human-elephant conflict in Asia

(Lahiri-Choudhury, Op. cit.). Elephants kill over 200 people each year in India alone

(Sukumar and Santiapillai, 2006). Between 1990 and 2001, wild elephants killed more than

450 people across Assam (Talukdar and Barman, 2003). In many parts of the range of the

elephant in Asia, the human-elephant conflict has escalated for a variety of reasons

(Sukumar and Santiapillai, 2006). The resolution of the conflict between elephants and

sedentary, agriculturally-based people is a priority issue in the conservation of the species

(Hoare, 2001). The conflict between people and elephants continues as farm expand into

elephant habitats (Barnes, 2008).

1.21 Why the present study?

With the increase in the human population in India the Asian elephant is facing

tremendous pressures from all sides beginning from habitat destruction, habitat depletion,

habitat alteration, poaching, killing, conflict with human etc. in its entire distribution range.

Conservation and management of endangered species in the wild requires adequate

knowledge of their distribution and population size (Sukumar, 1989b). Conservationist

needs for more information on the habitat requirements of species of conservation concern.

Much of this is behavioural in terms of diet choice, home range, social system and breeding

behaviour (Sutherland, 1998). For example altitudinal migrations can be important (Powell

and Bork, 1995) and these need to be understood when designing reserves or conservation

policies.

With the destruction of forest beginning from the British Period, when they started

converting the forest land into a monoculture plantation (tea) and extracted Shorea robusta

timber for railway slipper and other purposes, major area of the Assam forest had been

depleted. During the last decade of the last century another destruction spell for the forest of

Assam had started till the intervention by Supreme Court of India in the timber operation in

the state. These destructions depleted major habitat areas of the Asian elephant in Assam.

But, no study had been done in Asian elephant ecology, though lots of authors have done

work on its population status, distribution, human elephant conflict, movements,

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conservation action etc. The North East India has nine Elephant Reserves, where no research

work has been done in the ecology of elephant except the regular departmental census. The

Manas National Park is the core area of the Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve in the Western

Assam. Hence, the present study has been designed to evaluate the “Ecology of Asian

Elephant, Elephas maximus, Linn. 1758 in Manas National Park, Assam” with the following

justification-

1. The ecology of the Asian elephant was not known from the nine elephant reserves,

protected areas and five national parks of Assam.

2. The study area of the present study was the Manas National Park, which is also the

core area of the Manas Tiger Reserve.

3. There has been reported sharp decline of the Asian elephant population in Manas

National Park and reason for such decline was in confusion.

4. Asian elephant population in Manas National Park was heavily impacted by Hunting

and Poaching during the last century of the last decade.

5. The Manas National Park reportedly serves as the sink for the Asian elephant

population, which is between the Subankhata Reserve Forests in the east and

Kuklung Reserved Forest.

6. The Manas National Park is also connected with the Royal Manas National Park of

Bhutan on the northern boundary having contiguous forest connectivity. This

contiguity of forest with the Bhutan will give tremendous opportunity to study the

Asian elephant ecology on Landscape level.

7. The study area i.e. Manas National Park is having woodland and grassland and is in

the Bhabar-terai vegetation zone on the foothills of Bhutan.

8. The study area, Manas National Park is bordered with the fringe villages where

regular human-elephant conflict has been reported.

9. The results of the present study will help the management of the Manas National

Park, to design site specific conservation plan for the conservation of the Asian

elephant in Manas National Park.

10. The study on the ecology of the Asian elephant will provide information on the

habitat use and food of Asian elephant, which will help in the management of the

habitat and food plants in Manas National Park by the Management.

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11. The study will help to justify the need for conservation of bigger species like Asian

elephant on landscape level between India and Bhutan.

12. Such study will provide information to enables to evolve suitable conservation

programmes for each area to maintain and restore habitat integrity, reduce

anthropogenic and biotic pressure to safeguard the Asian elephant population.

1.22 Objectives

The general objective of the present study was to find out the “Ecology of Asian

Elephant, Elephas maximus, Linn. 1758 in Manas National Park, Assam”. The specific

objectives for the present study were as follows-

1. To study the present population of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

2. To study the habitat utilization pattern of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

3. To study the home range of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

4. To investigate the Activity pattern of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

5. To study the food and feeding pattern of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.

6. To study the human elephant conflict in Manas National Park.

7. To study the conservation threats of Asian elephant in Manas National Park.