Survey Reveals Large Population of Asian Elephants

A population study of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) living in Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia, has revealed that there may be as many as 631 of the endangered elephants in the park—making it the largest known population of the endangered elephants in Southeast Asia. The current range of Asian elephants includes India, Southeast Asia, Sumatra and Borneo. Their former range also included areas south of the Himalayas and China, north to the Yangtze River. Unfortuantely, the species has suffered greatly at the hands of habitat destruction and poaching. Today as few as 30,000 to 50,000 individuals remain in 13 Asian countries.

The Taman Negara National Park elephant population study was conducted by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks. To estimate elephant numbers, the researchers counted the number of dung piles left behind by the elephants. What such a task lacks in glamour it makes up for in reliability—it turns out that dung piles provide a very reliable means of estimating the number of elephant that are present in an area.

The results of the survey highlight the importance of the Taman Negara National Park in protecting the rare elephants:

“This new survey shows that Taman Negara National Park is one of the great strongholds for Asian elephants in Southeast Asia,” ~ Dr. Melvin Gumal, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s conservation programs in Malaysia.

Taman Negara National Park is a 4,343 square kilometer protected area located in the heart of the Malay Peninsula. The park was established in 1938 and encompasses pristine lowland evergreen rainforest habitats within three Malaysian states: Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang.

Find out more: Jumbo-Sized Discovery Made in Malaysia (Newswise)

Photo © Simon Hedges / Wildlife Conservation Society.