A hundred years ago wild elephants on the Malay Peninsula could be
counted in their thousands - now there are less than 1500. In the last
50 years around 50% of forest cover in Peninsular Malaysia has been
lost.
Using the very latest GPS and satellite communication technology
experts from The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) and the
Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks are tracking some
of the remaining elephants to assess the effectiveness of the Malaysian
Government’s elephant conservation and management practices.
Today, to coincide with National Diversity Day, The Malaysian
Ministry of Natural Resources through its Department of Wildlife and
National Parks is signing memorandums of understanding on research
collaboration with the UNMC and ten public Malaysian universities. The
Department and UNMC are also signing a Memorandum of Agreement
specifically for MEME, the Management & Ecology of Malaysian
Elephants research project.
MEME is a five year research project led by Dr Ahimsa
Campos-Arceiz, an ecologist and conservation expert, in the School of
Geography. The project has received funding of RM3.36m (£700,000) from a
foundation set up by the Malaysian based multinational Sime Darby to
help MEME develop a long term strategy to protect the country’s elephant
population. Other important donors for the project are Singapore Zoo,
Copenhagen Zoo, the National Zoo (US), US Fish & Wildlife Service
and private philanthropists.
Dr Campos-Arceiz said: “If we lose the elephants we lose a unique
element of tropical ecosystems. When elephants walk they trample the
soil and impact the forest in a way that no other animal does. When
elephants eat, they modify the structure of vegetation, releasing plant
parts that can be consumed by other herbivores. When elephants eat
fruits, they disperse seeds. Ultimately, elephants create habitat
heterogeneity and promote forest regeneration. All this will be lost and
we will have a much more simplified ecosystem that is less resilient
and has lost a lot of its diversity.”
 
Mitigating human-elephant conflict
Hunted for their tusks and stripped of their natural habitat to
make way for crops, roads and new settlements the Asian elephant is
listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
MEME will produce information on how elephants move in natural
habitats as well as in human-dominated landscapes and how they respond
to translocation - – one of the practices used to move elephants away
from areas of human-elephant conflict (HEC). The project is also looking
at non-invasive techniques to extract DNA and hormones from elephant
faeces, developing cost-effective strategies to mitigate human-elephant
conflict and improving our understanding of elephant ecological function
in tropical rainforests.
Tracking technology
MEME and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks aim to
develop a conservation strategy based on scientifically sound knowledge
of elephant behaviour, ecology and a clear understanding of the
underlying causes of human-elephant conflict. In the next few years they
intend to fit 50 elephants (3% of the Malaysian elephant population)
with GPS-satellite tracking devices to monitor how they are responding
to the changes in their habitat, how they react to translocation – and
what effect current conservation measures such as highway viaducts and
wildlife corridors are having on the elephant population on the Malay
Peninsula.
Once the GPS collar is fitted the elephant’s whereabouts can be
tracked in the field using VHF radio signal or at any location with
internet connection to access the GPS locations transmitted by the
collar via satellite phone. Indeed, thanks to USB internet modems, the
team is often able to access internet in the field, which makes field
tracking far easier.
Tropical forest at risk
Recent research led by Dr Campos-Arceiz has shown that the
elimination of seed-dispersing animals such as the Asian elephant puts
the structural integrity and biodiversity of the tropical forest of
South-East Asia at risk.
His team of international experts have confirmed that not even
herbivores like tapirs can replace them in doing this essential job.
Their research ‘Asian Tapirs Are NO Elephants When it Comes To Seed
Dispersal’ has just been published in the academic journal Biotropica.
Dr Campos-Arceiz said: “Elephants and rhinoceroses play a unique
ecological role that cannot be replaced by other species. These mega
herbivores act as the ‘gardeners’ of humid tropical forests. They are
vital to forest regeneration and maintain its structure and
biodiversity. If the elephants and rhinoceroses are lost the ecological
trajectories of the ecosystem will change irreversibly.”
MEME in action
Dr Campos-Arceiz and his team work in close collaboration with the
Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Peninsular Malaysia. They
have a permanent field centre deep in the Malaysian jungle, a field
project manager and a team of research assistants and field assistants
who are already monitoring nine elephants which have been fitted with
the specially designed tracking collars.
The new funding will help to support three PhDs specifically for
Malaysian students to study elephant stress levels, the development of
genetic molecular tools to study elephant populations in tropical
rainforests and the characterisation and mitigation of HECs.
Dr Campos-Arceiz said: “These scholarships will help to establish a
bigger pool of local experts in wildlife management. We also employ
staff from the Orang Asli community, Malaysian indigenous people, to tap
into their expertise and knowledge of the elephants and their habitat
in the rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia.”
For more information go to: http://www.camposarceiz.com or www.meme-elephants.org
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