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I nt er na ti on al [ oumal o f Em /a gy a nd E n vi ro nme nt al S ci en ce s 34 (2): 181"186,2008 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EcOLOGY, NEW DELHI

Population Status and Conservation of Wild and Captive Asian Elephants(Elephas maximus) in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, MyanmarSURENDRA VARMAA ,i< l// E le ph an t R ese ar ch a nd C on se rv atio n C en tre (A D iv isio n o f A sia ll Nature Cons er va ti on F ou nd at io n) , C /o C en tr e fo rEcologicalSciences, indian institute o f S ci en ce , B a ng al or e 5 60 0 12 , Karnataka, IndiaEmail: l larma@ces.i isc.ernl! t . in

ABSTRACTAn investigation on the status and conservation of both wild and captive Asian elephant was carried out inAlaungdaw Kathapa National Park (Al

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182 Varma: Population Status of Elephants Int.]. &1. Envirol l . Sc i .The I606 km2 Park comprises the Patolon andadjoining Taungdwin Reserved Forests. The elevationof the park varies from 200 to 1300 m asl with anaverage of 1000 m asl and Hlaingma Taung (1290 masl) is the highest peak of the park. The park is drainedby a number of tributaries of Patolon River: PetpaChaung and Taungdwin Chaung being perennialamong them (FAa 1982, Tun 1997). Major rainfalloccurs between May and October and is heaviest inAugust and September. Rainfall is affected by thewestern Chin Hills, with annual mean of 1500 mm(FAa 1982, Tun 1997). Except selective logging ofteak (Tectoria grandis) in the past, the natural forestcover is least disturbed and the major forest typesfound here are Moist Upper Mixed Deciduous, DryUpper Mixed Deciduous, Semi-Indaing, Pine andEvergreen (FAa 1982, Tun 1997). There is a richwildlife prevalent in the park; elephant. tiger, gaur.tsaine, sambar and muntjac are the major mammalian

1- North E~sl2 South W est3 - M iudon4 - K amua l~ - K u nz e

Figure 1. Location of AKNP in Myanmar.

fauna here (FAa 1982). Black bear, dhole (Indian wilddog), otter. jungle cat, golden cat, fishing cat, civets.pigs. serow and other species are reported in the park(Tun 1997).MethodsGeneralAlong with line transect survey, different survey routeswere identified for sampling wild elephants and villageslocated within and out side the park were visited forthe status of human elephant conflict. The captiveelephants belonging to the park were chosen to studycaptive elephant management. The survey was a part ofWildlife expedition carried out by the UK basedScientific Exploration SOCiety. The expedition teamwas divided into sub groups, each sub group with agroup leader, carried out the survey.Population Estimate of Wild ElephantThe line transect method (Burnham et < 1 1 . 1980) wasfollowed to estimate the density of wild elephant dungpiles. Transects were cut afresh for each count, and onlocating a dung pile. the perpendicular distance of thedung pile to the transect line was measured. The otherparameters such as dung decay and defecationexperiments (to compute the elephant density) werenot carried out .IS there was a time constraint, and alsothe data on these two parameters is already availablefrom the study conducted earlier by Forest Depart-ment. Myanmar (Myint 1994).Status of Human-Elephant ConfuctVillages within and outside the park were surveyed forassessing the human-elephant conflict. A questionnairewas used. The survey also extracted data on elephantssighted by the villagers dming their visit to forest areasfor collecting various forest products.Captive Elephant SUrllt;)ITo create an informative database and La understandthe status of elephants and their keepers (locally calledoozies) , elephant and oozi management, veter inary careand benefits (cost benefit) of keeping the elephants inthe park were studied by the following methods:Type I: Morphological measurements of captive

working elephants were recorded.Type II: Interviews with the park warden, veterinarysurgeon, oozi leaders, cozies and assistant oozieswere made with the help of an interpreter

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34: 181-186 Varma: Population Status of Elephants 183wherever necessary. Photographs of each elephantand their cozies were taken. Drawings ofdistinguishing features (ears, tusk and tails) werealso made to identify the individual animal.

Da ta Pr oc es si ngElephant dung density was estimated lIsing theComputer Program Gajaha (AECC 1995). The resultsof data on elephant defeca tion and dung decay ra te wasobtained from the earlier study and was incorporatedinto the program to arrive at the elephant density.

The analysis of viUage survey data includedrelationship between distance to the forest and conflictwith elephants, water source and conflict, type of cropscultivated and conflict and efficacy of methods todetect the elephant problem.

For captive elephant. using the informationcollected through the questionnaire and direct obser-vations. fact sheets were prepared for each elephant, it'soozl (elephant keeper) which included veterinary careand management. The data has been analyzed for thepopulation parameters, and the relationship betweenvarious body measurements (particularly height, neckgirth and the circumference of the front foot) were alsocompared. Comparison of the values of mean heightand neck girth was made for a specific age classelephants to validate the relation-ship between heightand neck gir th.

RESULTSStatus of Wild Elephant in AKNPBased on the transect survey a mean dung encounterrate of 0.85 (Standard Error = 0.12) km' wascalculated for the park. The encounter rate of dungpiles indicated that the elephants were found to beusing only the southwest regions of the park (Table I).The southeast route encountered a mean 3 dung piles(Standard Enol' = 0.54) km', which is about 72%higher than the mean encounter rate far the park andother routes encountered no dung piles.

Based on the survey of dung piles across differentsighting distance class (through line transect survey).histogram of perpendicular distance of dung piles inkilometers was arrived and the same is given in Figure2. From this it can be seen, elephant dung piles areseen more at 2 to 3 meter class intervals. followed by 3to 4 and least in 6 to 7 meter class interval.

Table I Forest reserves sampled for elephant densityestimation during elephant survey in AKNP.

Name of the Route No. ofcovered transectsDung pilesrecorded

Distancecovered (kID)

South-west 6 l2 36North-west 4 8 0Mindon 4 6 0Kunze 4 8 0Kanthat 4 8 0Total 22 42 36

18'" 16, .~ 14~.~.2'Q 10t- a 7:; ; 6::;"

00

16

8

8-10 1(}12o

1-2

Figure 2. Histogram of perpendicular distance C .m ) of dungpiles. The values are based on the probability densityfunction. Here the assumption is that as the distance ofsighting (from the line) increases. the probability ofSighting the object decreases. The number of dung pilesdetected is plotted against the distance class of dungpiles sighted.

The results of elephant dung density, decay rateand defecation rate arc given in Table 2. A mean dungdensity of 1633.85 (Standard Error= 375.8) I

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184Captive Elephant Management

Varma: Population Status of Elephants I nt . ] . E c ol . E ll vi ro n. S ci .Table 2. Estimates of elephant density for AKNP.

Dung and elephant densities are expressed asnumber per lan2 and the dung density estimatesare based on Fourier series analysis.

Parameters ValuesDung DensityStandard Error of dung densityDecay RateStandard Error of decay rateDefecation RateStandard Error of defecation rateMean Elephant Density95% Lower Confident limit95% Upper Confident limit

1633.85375.840.010.0023.001.500.640.53

0,74

and water source (within mean distance of 3.2,Standard Error = 0.64). The major forest type found inthese regions is mixed deciduous (3 km radius of thevillage). Though these villages are located close toforest and rivers, the human-animal conflict. particu-larly with elephants, is almost nil and no humancasualty or household property damage has beenreported.

Population Status o f Captive ElephantsThe Park was started as a sanctuary in 1984 and later,notified as a National Park in 1989. Since thenelephants are kept in this camp. The elephant campwas started with 3 elephants and later more elephantswere included. The animals, which are wounded,retired and unable to work in the timber logging campsand zoological garden, are brought to this camp and isa refugium for such elephants Since the establishmentof Park and the camp, there has been a gradual increasein the number of elephants with the annual increase of0.928 animals and currently the park has l4 elephants.For 13 years of existence, only two elephants have died(One SO-year-old female due to old age and a 21 yTolddue to disease), resulting to an annual morality of only0,14%, There is no captive-breeding program here.

The overall body condition, veterinary care an dmanagement appeared to be relatively good, This wasevident from the comparison of various body measure-ments of the animal. For most of the elephants in thecamp the measurements of height and neck gil-th wereidentical (Figure 3) as the mean values of height andneck girth for a specific age class (where more datawere available for comparison) were not statisticallydifferent (z= 1.33, PN . . . . ~ r'E : ~ ~ ~c-A

T 'f'"4 .~ h;! >rj. . , . . ~ : l - ' " C~ l : " 1 )

f":ltOphut~ studitd or r r ( 1 n )Figure3. Height, neck girth and circumference of front foot (CFF) of the Park elephants. The value of CFF is obtained bymultiplying the actual value with a factor of 2.1(S:Kan Sein, Than Aung Tun, TA, TM: Than Moe 00, ML: Ma Lu, ZM: Zaw Ma, MM: Moe Moe, MK: Ma Kaw,

IA: LuAung, SK : Sh, 'I 'C Kaing Moe, YA;Yan Aung, PE: Poe E1San, PH: Pan Htay Lwin

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34: 181-186 Varma: Population Status of ElephantsDISCUSSION

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captive elephants (Krishnamurthy, personal commu-nication). such a relationship (no difference of meanvalues of neck girth and height) is possible only if theelephants are in good condition.

The good health status of elephants of theelephants kept here could be also related to the naturalworking atmosphere given to them. The elephants startworking when they are ten years old and retire at theage of 65 and veterinary history of each elephant ismaintained. During dry season the elephants transportthe pilgrims who visit Alaungdaw Kattapa Shrine andonly 50% these elephants are used for this purpose. Asmost of the park area is inaccessible through othertransport. the elephants are used to transport goodsfrom the nearest town Kapang, patrolling the forestsand to transport sick and old people from the camp tothe nearest village or town for treatment. Very specificworking hours are followed, which were between 7 to11 in the morning, and 4 to 6 in the evening. In themorning working hours rice is given as food and in theevening. tamarind and salt are given to the elephants.When elephant is released for free ranging, they arehobbled and released. their "free-ranging" durationdepending on the work given 0 the animal.Soc io -Economic S ta tus 0 / E le ph an t K e ep er sEvery elephant in the camp has an oozl. each ooziworks with given elephant for a number of years. Anoozi is promoted to second head oozl , to first headoozi, and head cozt: every 2 years oozi is promoteddepending on the need. Average monthly salary of anoozi is 600 kyats (=US$ 3). Although no accom-modation is given for the elephan t staff. the Govern-ment provides land and small-scale agricultural pract iceis followed by the oozi. They cultivate vegetable andother crops in this land; as the land is close to forest,house construction materials (generally bamboo andwood) arc obtained from the forest. The monthly salaryis not sufficient for family maintenance, and accordingto cozies. an income of 7.000 kyats is required foroveral l maintenance of family. Agricultural and animalfarming activities (rearing chicken and pigs, sellingthem to local market) bring some income to the family.During the rainy season, the markets do not functionand only barter system takes place. The oozies wish tohave a large family. and everyone works to raise adecent income. No oozi is educated beyond fourthstandard but are keen on providing good education totheir children. The nearest school (middle, primary andhigh school level) was situated 22 miles away andchildren stay in the village to ge t educated.

Status of Wild Elephants in the ParkThe status of wild elephants in this park was not wellknown. nor has it been studied Scientifical ly. Informa-tion available on the species is only based on indirectobservations. As the visibility. in most of the forest isvery poor. it's very difficult to study them directly.Through the current survey. it was noticed that theelephants have specific places for their movement andutilization in the park. Patches of typical deciduousforest were noticed in some part of the park along withother species. the forest surveyed had tree species ofteak, ( T ec toH tI g rC l ll di s) gooseberry (Emblictl offici Htllis)and xylia (Xylin dolabrifol'lI1is). Only close to theseforests, elephant dung was noticed. Overall the dungdensity was vely low, but in some patches. where theforest has sufficient food (tall grass). shade and water,elephants may regularly use these places. For elephantsthe availability of food or such forests (typicaldeciduous with grass cover) are ideal microhabitat. butthese forests are very rare or the distribution of suchforest type is patchy in the park. Myint (1994) foundelephants using more or (87%) moist mixed deciduousforest. followed by Indalng forest (9%). dry uppermixed forest (6%) and grassland (3%). However thehabitat usage pattern in relation to different habitat orforest types available to elephants was not clearlyestablished by this study. Myint (1994) estimated atotal population of 101 elephants for the park. ourestimate of 0.64 km-~ could be a over estimate ofnumbers; however. stratification of habitat based onactual elephant usage area and extrapolating the esti-mated density to only those area would give a reason-able or acceptable number of elephants for the park.Elephants used occur. particularly in the Taungdwindrainage. but is not a very common mammal, They arereported to be heavily hunted for their ivory bypoachers from Chin region (FAG 1982).Status of Human Habitation andResultant Human Elephant ConflictAKNP has no or very negligible state of humanelephant conflict . as there are no villages located withinthe forest; the nearest village is about 50 miles away.The fertile Myittha Valley located in the western sideof the park is a heavily populated region. However. theonly settlements within the reserved forests of Patolcnand Taungdwin are the two small villages of Zanabok

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186 Varma: Population Status of Elephants flit. t. E eo l. E n vi ro n. S ci .and Pya. Along the Chindwin Valley, the mainpopulation centres are Kani, Monya, Yimrnabin andKabaing, the nearest Village to the park. The lowervalley of the Patolon and bordering Taungdwin RFwith many flat and fertile valleys, has many villages,majority of the population of these villages areprimarily agriculturalists, cultivating rice and ground-nut along the river valley. In other regions of Asia, thehuman-elephant conflict is one of the main censer-vation problems, and at present it is not a major issuein AI(NP. However, the conflict is likely to heightenwith the increase of the human population or activitiesalong the periphery of the forests.Captive Elephant StatusThe elephant camp was started with a small number ofelephants and later more elephants were included. Themajor objective of having this camp was to manageanimals that were wounded, retired and unable toworkin the timber logging camps and zoological garden.Since the establishment of the camp, there was agradual increase in the number of elephants. The campdoes have some problems; although good veterinarycare is available; there were problems in identifyi ngsensitive diseases, there was no veterinary clinic andthe medical budget to run the camp was very low.However, the overall body condition, veterinary careand management appeared to be relatively good. Thisis evident from the matching measurement values ofboth height and neck girth of animals surveyed. Fromsocio-economic status point of view, the status ofelephant keepers appeared to be not in a positive state.There was no accommodation provided to the keepers,the salary given was not sufficient for family mainte-nance and no oozi is educated beyond fourth standard.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSProf. R. Sukumar provided technical support. Thestudy was funded by John D. and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation, USA and Rotterdam Zoo. the

Netherlands, The survey was possible through UKbased Scientific Exploration Society (SES),s MyanmarWildlife Expedition in Alaungdaw Kathapa NationalPark (A1