This past summer we were happy to help Dr. Htun participate in the Asian Elephant Health, Reproduction and Breeding Management Workshop in Thailand. The workshop was divided into three portions: one week online, one week examinations, and lastly, one week hands-on practicals in Thailand. Dr. Htun was able to learn about foot care in addition to ultrasound checks for pregnant elephant cows.
Ms. Dasi with Laksmipriya
AES is pleased to announce we were able to secure funding to Dr. Sarma for the continuing medical care of the Mayapur Temple elephants Laksmipriya and Bishnupriya under the care of Ms. Hrimati Dasi. The two female elephants arrived to the temple separately some time ago. Ms. Dasi employs three mahouts to care for the elephants as well as herself. Dr. Sarma has taught her how to do some medical care as well as footwork, which is essential to elephant health.
Ms. Dasi performing foot work on one of the girls
The two girls have been provided with a well rounded diet and are able to forage the area around the temple to graze which has brought them into healthy weights. We look forward to more updates from Ms. Dasi and Dr. Sarma throughout the next year as he stops in for their routine check ups.
Dr. Sarma, with a smile that only an elephant can give you.
Over the past two decades the ETH has been able to release 99 elephant orphans. They are released in groups of 4-8 after rehabilitation and integration into the EHT herd. From those 99 releases only 7 have died and 15 babies have been born. So how does an elephant become an orphan? Unfortunately the answer lies with human-elephant conflict. Mothers are killed for crop raiding or are killed by accident in electrocutions and train accidents. Almost all of the orphans arrive in very poor condition with ailments ranging from dehydration to severe parasitic infestation and even congenital defects. That being said there have been many losses over the years.
Mother receiving fluids with calf at her side
Group play activities
When the orphans first arrive they are immediately given medical treatment to assess their condition. They are given milk and whatever other nutrition they require to be brought back to homeostasis. From there the new herd members are introduced to the already established herd and begin to participate in activities with the other kiddos such as swimming, grazing, and mud wallowing. What is very special about this program is it is the only one of its kind with years of data to track their successes in an Asian elephant range country. The number of elephants in Sri Lanka is just over 6,000, with about 250 living in human care. The EHT has seen and experienced so much over the years and will continue to work to save orphan elephants.
Calves receiving milk
Post release
We at AES look forward to the continued success of the EHT and are very thankful to have the opportunity to support such a dedicated group of people. Thank you, Dr. B. Vijitha Perera, Suhada Jayawardena, Neshma Kumudini, Tharaka Prasad, Department of Wildlife Conservation Sri Lanka, et. al. for the amazing work you are doing in Sri Lanka.
The Elephant Hospital
The Myanmar Elephant Hospital is situated in the Bago (East) region in the central part of the country. It is located 138 miles from the city of Yangon and 40 miles from the city of Taungoo. The hospital was constructed by the Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE) under the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.
There are four MTE elephant agencies in Bago (East) and three agencies in Bago (West) for a total of approximately 400 captive elephants in the region. Besides these elephants, the hospital will help other elephants from the Nay Pyi Taw and Ayeyarwaddy regions, as well as privately owned elephants.
The area surrounding the hospital has approximately 6000 acres of forest for elephants, and some wild elephants use this forest. The hospital land sits on both sides of a small river.
The objectives of the Myanmar Elephant Hospital are as follows:
To provide good elephant health care,
To enable elephant research with local and international experts and other range countries in Asia,
To provide care for old or disabled captive elephants,
To promote elephant conservation and forest protection.
In the Myanmar Elephant Hospital area, there are 30 houses for Mahouts (elephant handlers) and their families, and one main hospital building.
Mahout Housing
In addition to the buildings, more than 500 plants (multiple species) have been planted around the hospital grounds. Nurseries for trees and plants will be established so that the area can be replanted every year. Fodder plants for elephant food will be grown on site.
During the first phase of construction, Asian Elephant Support provided funds to purchase building supplies and equipment, and to install a water resource system for the hospital building and the mahout living area consisting of wells and pipes. Solar panels for electricity for the hospital and mahout houses have been donated by the local community.
Water system for hospital, school, and homes
February 1st-4th, 2016, Asian Elephant Support’s president, Linda Reifschneider, attended the Regional Asian Elephant and Tiger Veterinary Workshop at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Pookode, Wayanad, Kerala, India. This event was hosted by the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, in collaboration with Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation, Forest and Wildlife Department, Government of Kerala, and Asian Elephant Support. The workshop is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Asian Elephant Conservation Fund.
All workshop participants
Veterinary expertise is crucial to conservation efforts, and this workshop provided the opportunity to share experiences regionally, provide practical training, build local and regional capacity in elephant and tiger veterinary care, and enhance veterinary expertise needed for effective conservation.
The workshop looked at wildlife health from the ecosystem perspective and afforded the opportunity to discuss topics such as disease spillover from humans and/or livestock to wildlife, emerging diseases and/or disease prevalence, as well as reducing stressors in the environment.
In addition to meeting and hearing from some experienced elephant veterinarians previously unknown to AES, it was also very interesting to listen to those veterinarians working with tigers in range countries. It makes one stop to think that this majestic creature is now facing yet another challenge as habitat loss brings domestic canines into proximity, offering up the very real threats of distemper and rabies.
Dr. Arun Zachariah, one of the veterinarians in India AES has funded, co-chaired this event with AES consultant Heidi Riddle. In addition, Dr. Zachariah presented on emerging diseases in Asian elephants and a second presentation on post-mortem techniques in Asian elephants and tigers. You may find the official report here: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6008a9e8fff086bcf7caed1f8/files/AES_Elephant_Tiger_Workshop_Kerala_2016.docx
Dr. Christopher Stremme presented on the work he is doing in Sumatra (work AES continues to help fund) and also participated with Dr. Dennis Schmitt in a demonstration of ultra-sonography in Asian elephants. Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert (“Dr. Yeaw”) who has helped us help wildlife department veterinarians in Vietnam, recounted the work being done at The Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand. And Dr. Zaw Min Oo, who AES has worked with in Myanmar, also presented.
Dr. Meenakshi Nagendran, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services, discussed the global population status and conservation of programs for both Asian elephants and tigers and Sri. Ajay Desai, IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, discussed human/wildlife conflict relative to Asian elephants and tigers and a second presentation on the ecology and evolution of Asian elephants.
The papers session ended with an evening showcasing amazing demonstrations of sand art, followed by a traditional fire dance.
The workshop ended with a planned field visit to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, which has wild tigers, elephants, and other wildlife. Dr. N. Kalaivanan led the field visit to the Mudumalai elephant camp, sharing camp management protocols with workshop participants from outside the area, as well as introducing us to camp staff and some of the camp elephants. Dr. Kalaivanan also gave a presentation during the workshop on the chemical immobilization and translocation of Asian elephants.
Learning…..sharing…..networking….. It is efforts such as this that grow long past ‘the event’. Having not only another email address, but knowing the face and the expertise of that new contact to share ideas with and ask questions of – this is what helps move the care and conservation of Asian elephants – and tigers! – forward. Your support well invested and for which we thank you most sincerely!
Prepared by Elena Pranatio and Dr. Christopher Stremme
The Conservation Response Units (CRU) in the Way Kambas National Park (WKNP), which are employing captive elephants and mahouts from the Way Kambas Elephant Conservation Center to conduct human elephant conflict management and habitat patrols, are hugely effective and contribute much to reducing human-elephant conflict (HEC) and securing the WKNP habitat.
The first two CRUs were established with the construction of permanent basecamps in 2011 and 2013 on the northwestern border of the WKNP in the areas of Bungur and Tegal Yoso. This is one of the HEC hotspots having caused ongoing loss of almost all crops close to the WKNP border; therefore leading to great resentment against the WKNP and wild elephants from local communities.
The two CRU base camps at Bungur and Tegal Yoso each have 5 captive elephants used for habitat patrols and, if needed, to drive off wild herds that venture into farmland. During daily routine patrols the two units cover more than 15 km of WKNP border and a total of about 400km² of national park area. Regular staff of each CRU unit consists of 5 mahouts from the WKNP and 4 people from the local communities who are employed and trained as permanent staff of the CRU teams. Besides conducting patrols and wild elephant drives inside the national park, the CRU teams have also encouraged teams from local communities to build observation posts outside the WKNP on its border area and conduct regular night watches to detect wild elephants early and guard their valuable crops. The teams from the local communities have been trained in techniques of how to drive away wild elephants if they get close to the WKNP border and if needed, get backed up by the experienced CRU teams with its elephants.
A communication system, via mobile phones, between the CRU teams and the local community teams has been established and functions as an early warning tool ensuring ongoing information exchange between the CRU and local communities about elephant migrations close to the WKNP border. This allows for the timely coordination for needed crop guarding and wild elephant drives.
Currently 11 villages in the Bungur – Tegal Yoso area benefit from and participate in this HEC mitigation strategy with the CRUs. As a result of this work, the occurrence of incidents where wild elephants actually succeeded to pass the WKNP border and reach farmland has been reduced by more than 70%. The actual loss of crops due to the early warning and quick intervention has been reduced by more than 90%.
Due to the massive decrease of loss of crops, and thus increased income, the local communities have become much more willing to withdraw from most illegal activities inside the WKNP such as logging, cultivation, poaching, and cattle grazing and have become willing to accept the CRU’s law enforcement role for the protection of the WKNP area as undisturbed habitat for wild elephants. This has led to a reduction of such illegal activities by more than 90% in the Bungur-Tegal Yoso area.
Due to the success of the Bungur and Tegal-Yoso CRUs, in 2014 the head of the National Park has asked donors such as IEF, AES, and USFWS, who have supported the establishment and operation of the CRUs, for support to establish a new third CRU at the southwestern border of the WKNP, which is another HEC hotspot. IEF, USFWS, and AES agreed to support the establishment of this new CRU and in November 2014 the construction of the new basecamp in the Margahayu region was started. In January 2015 the CRU team were based at the camp while still under construction. The initial team consisted of 5 captive elephants and 5 mahouts from the WKNP Elephant Conservation Center. Shortly after the team arrived 4 young local people from nearby communities were employed and started to be trained as CRU team members. Training for such new team members consists of:
Initial staff training and camp construction were completed in April 2015 and the new CRU is fully operational. During its daily routine patrols a border area of about 10km is covered. During the past months the CRU team has constantly monitored the movement of wild elephant herds close to the WKNP border. Already several situations have been encountered by the team where a large herd of more than 30 animals intended to cross the NP border to venture into villages and farmland. The team has managed these incidents by driving the elephants away from the border back into the forest area of the WKNP. Such drive operations often last for several days because during the drive, the wild elephants initially retreat in the nearby forest, but during the next night they try to enter into the farmland again. This means the CRU team has to stand by on guard for several days until the wild herds finally give up and retreat back deeper into the WKNP forest area.
The people from local communities start to respond positively to the presence and activities of the new CRU as major crop raiding events by wild elephants have been prevented since the CRU has become active. The team has started to approach the people from the local communities to start building joint crop guarding and HEC mitigation strategies like in Bungur and Tegal-Yoso. The CRU team has already encouraged and supported the first community members for the construction of two observation posts outside the WKNP directly on its border with farmland. These posts are now already used for crop guarding during the night time by local community members.
The CRUs have become a very successful and important part of the WKNP habitat protection and HEC mitigation strategy. The successful implementation of the day to day field work is ensured by teams of highly motivated and skilled staff from the national park in close collaboration with local communities.
A major obstacle is that the WKNP agency itself does not have sufficient resources to fully finance the ongoing operation of CRUs. Therefor the continuation and possible expansion of the successful CRU work relies much on external funding support.
A story of collaboration, teamwork, and the paying forward of helping range country vets grow their abilities to help Asian elephants:
In 2014, Asian Elephant Support (AES) funded two veterinarians to educational workshops: Dr. Vanthinh Pham from Vietnam to a workshop in Sri Lanka, and Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert (“Dr. Yeaw”), from Thailand, to the EEHV workshop held in the United States. Dr. Yeaw’s trip was funded both by AES and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF).
Fast forward to 2015:
On the 19th of February, 2015, a young wild male elephant, since named Jun, was discovered by Yok Don National Park officials. Dr. Vanthinh Pham and his team from the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam rescued him with care.
Jun was quite aggressive and Dr. Pham had difficulty effectively treating his moderately infected would that began getting worse. Dr. Pram sought assistance from veterinarians experienced in treating such injuries and as well as help in training Jun with positive reinforcement to allow for safe treatment.
Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert (“Dr. Yeaw”), of The Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) in Lampang, Thailand, along with two of their highly experienced mahouts, traveled to Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam April 18th-25th. Dr. Yeaw performed the initial surgical debridement, then guiding Dr. Pham in an additional debridement surgery. The TECC mahouts showed their Vietnamese counterparts how to safely and humanely train Jun to accept further medical care. And again, AES and GTAEF joined forces to fund this effort.
As of this writing Jun appears to be getting better, with both Dr. Yeaw and Dr. Pham happy with the progress. Dr Pham is better at handling him, now working on finding a way to get blood tests done. And two veterinarians, in two different countries but sharing the same concern for Asian elephants, are now reaching across the border, sharing knowledge and helping. We are delighted to see this story unfold, both that Jun is receiving help and that our investment in each of these gentlemen is paying itself forward in exactly the manner the Asian elephant needs.
We are pleased to be able to share this effort with you and, as always, thank YOU for your support, without which we would not be able to make a difference.
This past year in 2014 one of our advisors, Heidi Riddle, co-authored a paper about the importance of identifying health issues in Asian elephants as seen by their veterinarians. It is important to understand how difficult it is to find data on captive Asian elephant management throughout their range countries. That being said the authors of this paper delved into what could potentially help both mahouts and their elephants receive the best care. When both mahout and elephant are able to access medical care, that is a mahout is healthy and can provide for his charge, both individuals will thrive. Finding solutions to this little known problem will certainly allow for a future with elephants to flourish. Follow the link below to read the paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320845/
Half-way around the world, Dr. Kushal Sarma also celebrated Elephant Day. He held the event at the Assam Agricultural University on September 21st. The event had to be scheduled early due to school closures, but we don’t think the elephants minded, at least not the two that took part in this celebration, as they were treated to sugarcane, banana stems, and soaked gram (a popular legume found in many Indian dishes)!
The celebration started with a demonstration of elephant healthcare procedures followed by an exhibition of elephant literature, lectures, and a video. The program started at 7 a.m. and lasted until 1:30 p.m. and included tea and snacks for the participants. The four mahouts received Asian Elephant Support shirts (see the pictures) and the 35 participating veterinary students received a copy of Dr. Sarma’s book, Elephant Care, and a participation certificate.
Thank you, Dr. Sarma, for providing your students this extra learning opportunity!
Our collaborative campaign with Hope Elephants, “Partners for Pachyderms”, has come to an end and we are thrilled to say it was a success! We surpassed our goal and raised $2105 for Dr. Kushal Sarma’s Elephant Healthcare and Emergency Response Program in Assam, India. We are truly grateful to everyone that has made it possible for Dr. Sarma to continue his amazing work for these elephants.
Our story
Asian Elephant Support (AES) and Hope Elephants are working together to improve the lives of elephants living in the wild and in human care.
Hope Elephants is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization that is bringing a small number of retired or injured Asian elephants to Maine from circus herds for care and rehabilitation. Hope Elephants is also an educational destination where visitors, especially school-age children, have an opportunity to see, hear, and interact with the animals as a platform to present the big issues surrounding conservation, habitat destruction, and ecology.
Asian Elephant Support is also a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization that supports the care and conservation of elephants inAsian range countries. AES’s mission is to:
By combining efforts, resources, and expertise, we can accomplish more and make a greater impact for elephants in Asian range countries.
The impact
This project will directly benefit the wild and captive population of elephants in Assam, India. Even though elephants play an important role in the culture and religion of India, there are relatively few individuals with elephant veterinary expertise. Often the elephants live in remote locations and are difficult to reach, which makes responding to emergency situations more challenging.
AES has been workingwith Dr. Kushal Sarma since 2011 to improve the lives of the elephants in Assam. Because of his knowledge and willingness, Dr. Sarma is called to respond to health related elephant emergencies when needed. As human-elephant conflict increases, so does the number of emergency situations.
What we need
The funds raised in this project will be used to support Dr. Sarma’s Elephant Healthcare and Welfare- Emergency Response Program in Assam, India. By being able to respond to emergency situations, the wild and captive elephants will receive the desperately needed veterinary care they deserve.
Our minimum ask is $2000 and any additional funds will be used to provide medicine and supplies for Dr. Sarma’s Elephant Health Care Clinics throughout Assam.
We will be sending out more information about this soon, but feel free to visit our website if you can't wait to learn more!
AES has been working with the Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation (VESSWIC) since 2010 to improve the health of the captive population of elephants in Sumatra, Indonesia.
VESSWIC's goal is to contribute to the conservation of Sumatran wildlife by providing various kinds of veterinary expertise and services. To achieve their goal, a wide range of conservation activities, projects, programs, and collaborators are needed. Sustainability of these efforts is critical, and sustainability requires regular and dependable funding.
AES has supported VESSWIC with specific needs for general veterinary care, elephant patrols, veterinary and mahout workshops, and urgent care for orphaned calves.
Now we are pleased to announce that we have made a commitment to VESSWIC of $5,000 annually for three consecutive years beginning January 2014.
Sustainability is a key strategic objective for all organizations, and a reliable source of income helps us make long-term commitments to projects such as VESSWIC to produce sustainable change over time. Some examples of welfare and conservation efforts that require long-term commitments include:
We want to share with you the story of a special elephant in Sumatra named Harris, who was provided care during a visit to Aceh to see the elephants there.
At 18 years old Harris was alone, under nourished and full of parasites, and his future appeared dim. Harris was moved to one of the elephant camps where the Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation (Vesswic) provides medical care for elephants, in agreement with the Sumatran government.
Harris in his previous location
Eighteen months later, Harris is now a healthy elephant who enjoys the mental stimulation and physical activity of forest patrols, where he helps keep his wild counterparts safe from poachers and illegal settlers, whose presence hasten the fragmentation and loss of the wild elephants' home.
Please read the full story of Harris and see how your support through a donation can help individuals and at the same time contribute to conservation efforts.
Harris with his mahout, Saparudin
We are delighted to share a recent update from Dr. Christopher Stremme, the wildlife veterinarian working with Vesswic in Sumatra:
"Hello from Sumatra,
We are just back from Aceh yesterday and after the problems with some terrorist groups in some of the remote areas in central and west Aceh have calmed down and the security situation has improved, we were able and allowed again to visit all CRU's for regular health checks and treatments of the CRU elephants. The trip lasted for a week, during which we visited the Aceh elephant training centre and its satellite in north east Aceh and three CRUs in central and west Ache, conducted health checks and treatments (dewormings, wound treatments, etc.) for a total of 38 elephants.
Like always since the past year we were accompanied and assisted by Dr. Arman Sayuti from the veterinary faculty of the Banda Aceh University. Since he has started to volunteer with our program on a regular basis, he significantly has developed his experience and knowledge about elephant health care and management and, hopefully, on the long run can further help to develop better expertise and education about veterinary needs for conservation and welfare of endangered wildlife in Aceh.
Best wishes from Sumatra,
Christopher"
We think this update highlights some amazing aspects of the CRU program in Sumatra:
Obtaining body measurements for weight estimation
An accurate weight is needed to determine a safe and effective dosage for many medications. Vets and mahouts work together to measure an elephant (top picture) in order to estimate its weight for the proper dose of deworming medication (bottom picture). However, weights arrived at by the measurement formula vary among age groups of elephants so it is not always accurate. In addition, from the photo you can imagine how time consuming it is to measure each elephant.
Hiding dewormer in bananas!
A portable scale allows elephants to step up on a base, stand still for just a few seconds then walk off. Such a scale provides accuracy and efficiency for safe and effective dosing, and we would like to provide this tool to the CRU program.
The cost per scale, including delivery to Sumatra is $3100, and our goal is to provide two scales. We hope you will consider making a gift toward this purchase. Should you wish to give $3100 for one scale, we will have a plaque made to put on the Pelicase to acknowledge your donation!
Please read our project story and please visit our website, www.asianelephantsupport.org or contact us to learn more.