Saving Elephant

decorative elephantThe size of an Asian elephant is symbolic of its larger-than-life role in Asian culture. For 4,000 years, these elephants have carried soldiers into battle, hauled logs in inaccessible jungles, and participated in religious ceremonies.

But without help from scientists and conservationists, Asian elephants could soon be extinct. Their habitat has declined by 70 percent over the past 150 years and this species is listed as endangered on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Animals. Other threats to their survival include human-elephant conflict, ivory poaching, and the capture of wild elephants to supplement the elephants in work or tourism camps.
Habitat Decline

palm oil plantationAsian elephants once ranged from Iraq to southern China and possibly Java. Now, however, they live in small, isolated pockets of widely dispersed habitat in south India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. Few of these remaining habitats may be large enough to support elephant populations long-term.

In recent years, elephant habitat has declined due to the global demand for crops grown on the land these animals inhabit. In some places, their habitat is being converted to palm oil plantations. Palm oil is one of the most popular cooking oils on the global market and is in high demand in Europe and Asia as biofuel. Palm oil is also used in many products sold in the U.S., including cosmetics, detergents, and shampoos.

Additionally, as the human population in Asia has boomed, more people have converted elephant habitat into crop land to feed their families. Many of the people who take over wild elephant habitat are among the most indigent of the Asian population. They have few alternatives to living on the margins of elephant habitat and raising crops. To them, elephants are a threat to their lives and livelihood.
Protecting the World’s Largest Land Mammal

The National Zoo has a rich history of caring for and studying Asian elephants. Zoo scientists have cared for these animals for more than 100 years and have studied them in the wild for nearly 40 years.
Helping on Their Home Turf

washing working elephantsAbout 30,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants live in the wild today. An additional 15,000 working elephants in Asia are used in the timber and tourist industries. Many of these, however, are now unemployed and living in substandard living conditions. National Zoo scientists are collaborating with conservation partners to improve living conditions for these elephants.

Zoo scientists were also responsible for timing the insemination of a female that resulted in Thailand’s first baby elephant conceived by artificial insemination. They helped teach Thai veterinarians and taught them how to use a critical artificial insemination technique.

Currently, many of the Zoo’s elephant conservation efforts are focused in Myanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka. “[These countries] are two remaining strongholds for Asian elephants and are very important to the animals’ conservation,” says Peter Leimgruber, the National Zoo’s Conservation GIS Lab Director.