International Elephant Foundation

Transcription

1 IEF Volume International Elephant Foundation Volume Supporting conservation, education and research of the world s elephants

2 International Elephant Foundation Board of Directors 2 IEF Volume IEF Volume Tom Albert Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation President Dennis Schmitt DVM, Ph.D Missouri State University President elect/treasurer Martha Fischer Saint Louis Zoo Vice President/Secretary Harald Schwammer, Ph.D Tiergarten Schoenbrunn, Vienna Past President Frank Camacho Africam Safari Barbara Baker, DVM Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Michael Fouraker Fort Worth Zoo Charlie Gray African Lion Safari Paul Grayson Indianapolis Zoo Gary Johnson Have Trunk Will Travel John Lehnhardt Disney s Animal Kingdom Harry Peachey Columbus Zoo Randy Rieches San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park Glenn Young Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Deborah Olson Executive Director Newsletter designed by Christopher L. Becker IEF Newsletter Vol Inside this issue... Sumatran Elephant Conservation Response Units...4 Lao Elephant Care and Management Program...6 Creating the Prey Proseth Elephant Community...8 Support for community-based Conservation of elephants in the Ndoto Ranges, Northern Kenya Background...10 Kouprey Express Mobile Environment Education Project...11 Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy...13 The Namibian Elephant and Giraffe Trust...14 IEF s 2009 Conservation Project Grants IEF Donors...22 The International Elephant Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1998 for the purpose of contributing expertise and providing funds to support elephant conservation programs worldwide, including protection of elephants in the wild and of their habitats, scientific research, education efforts and improvement in intensively managed captive animal care facilities. The IEF s board of directors are highly regarded elephant experts experienced in working with African and Asian elephants and affiliated with elephant programs at a variety of organizations internationally, including non-profit and for-profit zoological institutions, circuses, universities or independent entities. Scientific advisors from the fields of medicine, research, academia and elephant management guide and support the IEF board. Board members contribute their time and expertise, as well as funds, and receive no compensation for time spent on IEF business. Board members expertise, time and travel to IEF board meetings are a complete donation to IEF from them personally, their institutions or their sponsors. All financial donations to IEF, a 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization, are tax deductible under U.S. law. For more information about the International Elephant Foundation go to A Message from the President Dear Friends The focus of the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) is to support issues of elephant conservation worldwide. As with many species threatened with extinction, conservation programs are increasingly important. Every day the work to save elephant habitat helps in conserving many other kinds of wildlife as the popular appeal of elephants is so great that attention to save this flagship species benefits many species big and small. The IEF Board of Directors has over 250 years of accumulated experience working with elephants and they represent some of the leading elephant facilities internationally, including non-profit and for-profit zoological organizations, circuses, universities and independent entities. All board members not only make a significant annual financial contribution to IEF in support of IEF s core operation but also work hard to direct funds to elephant conservation projects that have a measureable impact, build capacity, and encourage technology transfer. To date, your support has allowed us to contribute over $1.7 million to over 70 elephant conservation and research programs. Over $700,000 has been provided to in situ Asian elephant conservation programs, over $600,000 to in situ African elephant conservation programs, and over $400,000 to ex situ elephant conservation programs! What does your contribution to IEF support? The perception of elephants by villagers in the Boromo Region is either negative or non-existent because inhabitants rarely see an elephant and the children living on the forest border have only experienced or heard about bad encounters with elephants. Groups of pupils experienced a one-day outreach program where elephants were seen from a safe location. The children learned about elephants, wildlife conservation, forest protection, and career opportunities in ecotourism. For parents, the experience of their children is a very powerful reason for them to modify their attitudes about elephants. In Lao PDR, there is a clear need to improve the living conditions of local people working with domesticated elephants, improve technical skills of veterinarians, improve mahouts skills in elephant basic care and management, develop a nationwide elephant registration database, provide medicines and medical equipment, and promote tourism with elephants. With support from IEF, traditional elephant care knowledge is being replaced by modern veterinary techniques, and the provision of better ways of caring for and managing elephants which is improving the welfare of elephants and professionalism of mahouts. In addition, elephant registration is becoming a tool that will help implement better practices in elephant management, and prevent illegal cross-border capture and trading. More information about some of the projects IEF supports is included in this newsletter. Of course none of this would be possible without the generous support of people and organizations that have a concern for the future of elephants. IEF hopes as you plan your conservation contributions for the upcoming year, you will consider support of the International Elephant Foundation. Tom Albert

3 4 IEF Volume IEF Volume Sumatran Elephant Conservation Response Units By Deborah Olson and Wahdi Azmi The International Elephant Foundation began working with the Elephant Training Centers in Sumatra to improve conditions for the captive elephants, reduce unnecessary captive elephant deaths, and eliminate further captures of wild elephants. In 2001 IEF found the elephant centers were poorly managed, wild elephant habitats were being destroyed at an alarming rate, and human-elephant conflict was increasing, resulting in elephant deaths and or captures from which very few elephants survived. A comprehensive plan was developed by IEF and project partners to demonstrate the value of the captive elephants, as well as protect habitat and conserve wildlife. To make the elephants valuable in the eyes of the mahouts, forestry personnel and the public, and thus improve their care and management, the elephant training centers were turned into Elephant Conservation Centers (ECC) and the captive elephants and mahouts provided conservation related duties. In 2004 IEF and project partners developed a Conservation Response Unit (CRU) at the Seblat ECC, Bengkulu Province. Captive elephants are trained for forest patrol, carrying their mahout and armed forest rangers to fight forest crime, rescue wild animals, herd wild elephants away from human settlements and fields, and provide community outreach. Through this program the elephants are perceived as partners instead of burdens and their care and management standards have been raised. The mahouts have gained training in species monitoring, GPS, documentation, law enforcement procedures and have become highly motivated to improve their profession. The CRU project is an important tool to sustain this ecologically diverse wildlife environment in Sumatra. The Seblat ECC was established in 1992 as a result of a Sumatran government directive to capture elephants following incidents of human-elephant conflict in Bengkulu Province. The province of Bengkulu covers about 20,000 km 2 and is surrounded by the provinces of South Sumatra, Jambi, Lampung, West Sumatra and the Indian Ocean. Natural vegetation types found in Bengkulu province consist of wet lowland evergreen forest and montane rainforest. Fauna found in Bengkulu include tiger, elephant, tapir, rhino, deer, wild boar, civet cat, and various species of birds and reptiles. Surrounding the Seblat ECC are many large scale palm oil plantations and logging concessions. With forests being converted into plantations combined with logging activities (both legal and illegal) in the area, the land within the Seblat ECC has become an important reservoir for wildlife. The CRU Teams are composed of captive elephants and their mahouts, government forest rangers, and the local community. Captive elephants provide transportation during forest monitoring patrol activities, are a tool for gaining local community interest during awareness events, and drive away crop-raiding wild elephants should conflict incidents arise. Mahouts, as part of the CRU Team, not only take care of the elephants but are involved in all CRU activities. Each CRU Team conducts patrols for seven to ten consecutive days per month during which CRU Team members record sightings or evidence of illegal activities, human-wildlife conflicts and wildlife presence. The team carries hand-held GPS units to properly identify sighting locations and a digital camera for documentation purposes. They also fill out report sheets and a narrative when they return from patrol and this data is provided to the partner Bengkulu Province Forestry Department (BKSDA) offices. CRU staff plays an important role in educating communities living in proximity to the forest about wildlife conservation and protection. The information generated by CRU patrol data is helping develop a master plan to manage the conservation area, plus develop means for the ECC to become more self-sustaining. With support of our project partners, this program has grown and the management of the captive elephants at the Seblat ECC has dramatically improved. Each elephant receives sufficient food, water, and regular veterinary care thus protecting and preserving this small population of previously wild elephants. The mahouts are taking pride in their work and now understand that taking care of this population of elephants is an important and honourable profession. They also have come to recognize that this is an opportunity to learn technical skills to improve themselves and their standard of living. Most significantly, the mahouts have developed a love and understanding of wild spaces and wildlife, and their role in conserving Sumatra s forests for generations to come. Influence land use planning in proposing the increase of protection status of Seblat forest area Through the implementation of the CRU in Seblat we are supporting the BKSDA in their proposal to increase the protection status of Seblat forest area, including the Air Kuro Corridor to Kerinci-Seblat National Park. Both administrative and field work have been conducted from in order to provide accurate information on which to base the protection status decision. Various meetings and discussions at the regional and national level have also taken place. Based on the CRU team s reports and findings in the field which showed the importance of the Air Kuro Corridor for fauna and flora, as well as the existing problem of illegal land encroachment, BKSDA Bengkulu has also proposed expanding the Seblat Forest to cover the Air Kuro Corridor, in addition to some limited production forests (HPT Lebong Kandis II) that connects Seblat Forest block to the Kerinci Seblat National Park. Improve law enforcement to prevent forest disturbance Comparing the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, the number of illegal activities have decreased. After achieving great success in dealing with illegal logging, illegal hunting and encroachment inside the Seblat elephant forest, the CRU Seblat team has found most current cases of illegal activity are primarily encroachment in the corridor of Lebong Kandis II, which is actually placed outside the existing Seblat BKSDA managed area.

4 6 IEF Volume IEF Volume Lao Elephant Care & Management Program By Sebastien Duffillot The Lao PDR is considered by the United Nations Development Program as a lesser developed nation, with the Sayaboury Province one of the poorest in the entire country. ElefantAsia s, (an International Non-Government Organization dedicated to the protection and conservation of Asian elephants in the Lao PDR) general objective is to make progress towards improving living conditions and the socio economic situation of local communities living and working with domesticated elephants. ElefantAsia identified many areas in Sayaboury where domesticated elephant vet care, education and conservation efforts could be enormously improved and funding provided by the IEF has significantly contributed to these areas. The project has been so successful that ElefantAsia s latest Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Laos now allows the organization to perform domesticated elephant conservation work in more districts and provinces of the Lao PDR. This is a big indicator of approval from the Government of Laos, and a sign that ElephantAsia is making positive contributions to domesticated elephant conservation and to remote communities of the Lao PDR. Domesticated elephants in Laos are mainly employed in rural and remote areas of the Sayaboury Province, engaging in legal or illegal logging activities. In such isolated conditions many working elephants never receive veterinary care for chronic diseases or disorders afflicting them. The Lao PDR is a nation lacking in skilled veterinarians and access to formal veterinary training. Currently in Laos there are no schools or universities offering veterinary training degrees. Veterinarians in the Lao PDR are either aging officials who received overseas training some 30 years ago in former soviet nations, or are simply villagers with self taught knowledge of animal care so the terminology of veterinarian in this report is a person with basic animal skills, not someone who has received formal or recognized accredited education in veterinary science. Among the successful programs was onsite training sessions with Lao mahouts regarding elephant health care and elephant management. These sessions have positively improved the sanitary conditions and wellbeing of many domesticated elephants in the Lao PDR. Another program involved a five day workshop presented in the Lao dialect and covered: Revision of the current Lao PDR Livestock Management Decree. Revision of legal obligations regarding domesticated elephants, including the movement of elephants from districts, elephant buying and selling, and the reporting of elephant births and deaths. The implementation of revised elephant registration forms. The establishment of yearly reports regarding elephant statistics for each district. District cooperation with ElefantAsia s Elephant Care Mobile Unit and government official s role in reporting any changes in domesticated elephant populations to ElefantAsia. The possible future implementation of microchipping domesticated elephants. Initializing a national domesticated elephant database. The use of modern medical products for domesticated elephants. The benefits elephant trekking/ecotourism can bring to local districts. Future potential challenges domesticated elephant ownership may face in Sayaboury. The benefits ElefantAsia can propose to mahouts willing to undertake domesticated elephant breeding. While ElefantAsia has a successful Elephant Care Mobile Unit, it is district officials and veterinarians that have many legal obligations to fulfill and have the most regular contact with sick or injured elephants. For this reason it was considered vital that officials gain a comprehensive understanding of their legal requirements and veterinarians receive detailed information regarding elephant healthcare and product usage. All workshop attendees received written documents for their future reference. ElefantAsia continues to have ongoing communications with all district representatives via either telephone or during district field missions. The construction of ElefantAsia s Elephant Information House was completed. The original Elephant Information House was moved from Vientiane to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre city of Luang Prabang. This decision was made as Luang Prabang is a more compact and easily accessible city for visitors to walk around than Vientiane. The Elephant Information House is staffed by a Lao nationals and is open 6 days a week. International volunteers also spend time assisting at the centre and/or distributing posters and brochures throughout Lang Prabang. By visiting the Elephant Information House, national and international visitors to Luang Prabang can improve their knowledge regarding the conservation management, status and threats facing Asian elephants in the Lao PDR. The Elephant Information House promotes environmentally sustainable and fair ecotourism projects in Laos, and is a unique educational resource in a nation where environmental interpretation is still a rarity. ElephantAsia intends to expand the educational capacity of the Elephant Information House by designing and distributing more interpretative material regarding domesticated elephant, and how visitors can chose quality elephant tourist camps when making vacation plans. ElefantAsia has made significant progress in the field of registering domesticated elephants in the Lao PDR and introduced a new registration scheme to government officials and veterinarians. To date approximately 380 domesticated elephants have been registered and important information concerning each animal recorded. All registration cards are kept with ElephantAsia s staff veterinarian at the Sayaboury Department of Livestock and Fisheries office. Copies are also taken to ElephantAsia s head office, translated into English and entered into a database system. ElefantAsia is currently in the process of microchipping the domesticated elephants. Microchipping will safeguard wild elephants from being captured for domesticated use, will decrease the incidences of international border smuggling as well as many other conservation benefits for both wild and domesticated elephants. Fortunately both scanning and inserting microchips can easily occur during routine visits and veterinary checks by ElephantAsia s vets, although some education regarding why elephants should be microchipped is required for mahouts. Education about microchipping is being incorporated into mahout training sessions. The Elephant Care Manual (ECM) is completed, however it is still awaiting printing and distribution. The Lao version is approximately 140 pages in length. Due to their lack of education, some Lao mahouts prefer visual and diagrammatic explanations rather than text. The ECM covers basic topics such as how to clean and dress wounds, correctly dispensing medicines and the proper usage of basic medical products such as eye cleansers, balms and worming medications. ElefantAsia learned from this project that English to Lao technical translations are not as straightforward as it initially appears. IEF is extremely proud that ElephantAsia saw the project through and this manual is now one of only a handful of technical books and the only elephant related veterinary text currently existing written in the Lao language.

5 8 IEF Volume IEF Volume Creating the Prey Proseth Elephant Community By Tuy Sereivathana CECG Project Manager, Matthew Maltby CECG Project Adviser Background: Our activities are organized around four primary objectives: 1) the enforcement of wildlife laws through patrolling and forest monitoring; 2) improving community attitudes toward the conservation of elephants and their habitats; 3) increasing government support for conservation issues encouraging sensitive landscape planning; and 4) improving livelihoods of people negatively affected by elephants. To be strategically placed to effectively deal with Asian elephant conservation issues, and further our longterm initiative to build capacity in Cambodia, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) formed the working group of the Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group (CECG), which consists of three partners: FFI, and two government institutions - the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection, which is responsible for Cambodia s Protected Areas system, and the Forestry Administration, which is responsible for the broader Cambodian forest estate. We estimate that through the activities outlined in this report, in conjunction with the International Elephant Foundation, we have begun the effective conservation of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of surrounding forest and elephant habitat. This year we progressed on building structures, awareness about the elephant corridor linking two important traditional habitats, began successful land use planning in a new elephant conservation community, conducted a survey of domestic elephants, continued our work to improve local livelihoods, tackled human-elephant conflict across elephant communities, and built conservation awareness among key stakeholders from mining concessions to poverty-stricken remote forest communities. These efforts, combined with advancements in building conservation capacity at the provincial and national levels, demonstrate that CECG is making steady progress toward our goal of stabilizing and, ultimately, increasing the wild population of Asian elephants in Cambodia. Project: 1. Conserve key elephant habitat including historical elephant corridor by piloting Participatory Land Use Planning (PLUP) at Prey Proseth village, O bakrotes Commune, Koh Kong province. The area around the village of Prey Proseth was identified by CECG as being of high importance for elephant conservation due to forest habitat integrity and relatively high levels of humanelephant conflict (HEC) that could put the local elephant population in jeopardy. As part of our community-integrated approach to elephant conservation, we established the Prey Proseth Elephant Conservation Community. The community has five committee members who are responsible for the community s three units: the elephant guarding, agriculture, and finance and administration units. Using the internationally recognized PLUP methodologies, we have produced a comprehensive community land classification map for Prey Proseth village and the surrounding area. This process involved extensive consultation with villagers, local authorities, the Ministry of Land Use, the Ministry of Environment, and the Forestry Administration. The PLUP map has been approved by village and commune chiefs and demarcates arable and forested land, and will guide future initiatives designed to enhance community livelihoods. 2. Livelihood Improvement to farmers of Prey Proseth Elephant Conservation Community to reduce HEC and stress on surrounding pristine elephant habitat: Working in cooperation with the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), a local agricultural specialist group, we have provided training courses on livelihood improvement to local farmers. In training, we introduce elephant-friendly crop planning practices that discourage crops known to be attractive to elephants (such as banana and sugar cane), while encouraging the cultivation of crops that are unpalatable to the elephant. This year, our activities were specifically focused on cassava cultivation and chicken farming, and we: Provided 35,000 cassava trees provided to the community as a non-palatable, elephant friendly crop; Encouraged and trained 10 families to operate chicken farms using improved practices. These families now derive a good income from the sale of chickens every 3 months and no longer rely on selling forest products; Provided a hand-tractor to Prey Proseth Elephant Conservation Community for farmers to share during plowing season. Introduced and provided other alternate crop seeds including cucumbers, watermelon, white radish to villagers in neighboring communities. By focusing these activities on farmers along the elephant front line, these methods have resulted in almost complete cessation of forest clearing, and poaching is now almost zero. Indeed, there is an example of one farmer, Mr. Thim Rorth, when he heard about our activities, he went home, destroyed his charcoal kiln, and began planting cassava the next day. The recent harvest season has been hugely successful, with 10.5 tons of cucumbers collectively grown by 10 families, resulting in a gross sale of $3,412.50; 50 tons of dried cassava has been produced by the community, with an anticipated value of $3750. Unfortunately the cassava price per ton has fallen around 50% with the recent financial crisis affecting the export market to Vietnam and Thailand. With regard to the rice crop, the harvest escaped damage by wild elephants this year due to the mitigation methods implemented by CECG. Through elephant Guarding Groups, use of elephant deterrents such as fireworks and noisemakers and heightened vigilance we have managed to deter all visiting wild elephants before they were able to damage crops and other property. 20 tons of rice was produced between 15 families, with a market value of $4, Capacity Building for Long Term National Management of Elephant Conservation in Cambodia: Our team has undertaken a range of training activities this past year, including: Mr. Chheng Tim, of the Provincial Ministry of Environment and our HEC field team has completed studies in Geographic Information System (GIS) and Database management. This will assist him in keeping the HEC database up to date and providing regular and insightful analysis on HEC trends at a provincial level. He has also helped to design our new domestic elephant database. Mr. Chea Virak, our National level CECG counterpart from the Forestry Administration is studying GIS. Our project has also assisted core FFI staff member Mr. Phirom in advanced GIS techniques and analysis. Miss. Mao Dawne, CECG assistant has completed courses in administration and English. All CECG staff, from both national and provincial levels, were trained by the CECG Project Manager, Vathana in activity planning and implementation. Project Manager, Mr. Vathana has completed training on logical framework analysis, which was instrumental in the production of the new CECG 5 year strategy plan. CECG Project Manager and Project Adviser attended a 5-day workshop on the Range-wide Mapping and Priority Setting of the Asian Elephant, which was attended by members of all 13 Asian elephant range states. The national CECG team also attended a 7-day training course on Community Based Ecotourism in Cambodia. Our team took part in a staff exchange program with FFI s Sumatran Elephant Conservation Project (SECP) in Indonesia to help share knowledge and experiences on dealing with HEC and setting up successful ecotourism initiatives. We hope that these activities will all contribute to the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of the CECG project, which is now under full time management of Khmer national staff. 4. Continued and improved HEC Mitigation: Our team continues to come up with HEC mitigation solutions. We continue to test and use electric fences as an elephant deterrent. One night, two elephants (one female and one young) came to the edge of a farmer s plantation to raid crops. When she touched the fence with her trunk, she was surprised and ran away trumpeting loudly. This incident was very successful as a deterrent, but we were still unsure of its long-term effectiveness, as that night the ground was very wet after rain and so the shock may have been stronger than usual. Continued monitoring of this technique in all weather types has shown that it is an effective measure to deter elephants from crop raiding. In Mondulkiri Province, CECG has created three new guarding groups and 2 new elephant watchtowers. We continue to educate and instruct farmers to use fireworks properly to avoid causing forest fires or setting fire to people s property. Currently fireworks and carbide explosions are very cost effective ways of deterring elephants. For some areas that are rich in bamboo trees, we have encouraged farmers to use bamboo trees instead of plastic pipes (used to produce loud noise from carbide explosion) because plastic pipe is more expensive and difficult to find. We have expanded our HEC activities to Preah Vihear province, in the area north of Cambodia that borders the Thai and Lao

6 10 IEF Volume IEF Volume border. We see this as necessary as there is a herd of elephants living there very close to human habitation, thus there is a high potential for HEC in the future. We have provided the team there with the knowledge and materials necessary for HEC mitigation so they will be ready when it happens. Every two months, our National team visits to provide further training and consolidation. We have also taken early preventative measures to avoid HEC in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary in the northwestern Cardamom Mountains. This third of a million ha protected area is home to a number of small elephant herds who are now increasingly under pressure from external factors including land-grabbing, road and infrastructure development, and mineral extraction operations. We have disseminated our HEC Toolbox of information and supplies to 200 families in priority areas where villages and human activity are closest to the known elephant range. Challenges: With regard to building conservation capacity among local stakeholders, we continue to face the educational limitations of the generation that was raised during the Pol Pot regime, when education was not a national priority and this issue will remain a Support for community-based Conservation of elephants in the Ndoto Ranges, Northern Kenya Background By Northern Rangeland Trust Beginning in January 2007 the Northern Rangelands Trust received a grant from IEF to support elephant conservation in the Ndotos Range area of Samburu District in Northern Kenya. The aim of this first grant was to support and enhance the capacity of the Milgis Trust (MT) in order to: Improve security for elephants in northern Samburu District through support for community scouts. Improve communication between the MT and other community, government and private conservation organizations working in the area to ensure effective and timely response to incidents of insecurity. Establish systematic monitoring of wildlife and security incidents by community scouts. The MT, which is affiliated with the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), was established in 2004 as a result of the increasing poaching of wildlife and overuse of declining natural resources. Objectives of the MT include improving security and protection of wildlife, addressing destruction of natural resources, increasing awareness of natural resource conservation among local pastoralist communities, and improve access to education and healthcare among pastoralist communities. PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS Major achievements during this project were the: Purchase of radio communication equipment for MT scouts, to enable effective communication between MT outposts and the MT headquarters. Recruitment and support of the MT Manager to improve and facilitate community awareness. Recruitment of 10 additional scouts (with support from challenge to conservation projects for some time. We are pleased to see that our capacity building efforts are having a positive impact on both the local and national levels and are committed to sustain these efforts as needed. With regard to the Participatory Land Use Planning process, we faced challenges because the legal and regulatory environment governing land use planning in Cambodia remains unclear. In addition, the price of land, both rural and urban, continues to rise, exerting additional pressures on elephant habitats. These upward price pressures are currently exacerbating existing difficulties in zoning and land use planning that are integral to sustainable conservation, as many people prefer to sell their land to make money. Companies holding land concessions in the target areas, many of them non-cambodian, pose great challenges to the conservation community as they often resist efforts to limit environmental impacts, and may have especially close relations to relevant government agencies. This occurs at a very high level and it makes it difficult to work with stakeholders at the landscape level to improve the situation. Shikar Safari Club International) to boost scout numbers to 24, including two radio operators. Improved wildlife monitoring through systematic recording of daily wildlife observations. Project Management & Community Awareness The MT employed Moses Lesoloyia as Project Manager. Moses has been instrumental in increasing awareness between MT and community members in areas covered by the Trust. Moses has been provided with a motorbike to facilitate his work and covers enormous distances engaging with local communities, as well as coordinating the work of the scouts together with the security manager. Of particular importance is the increased awareness of forest fires and the threat they pose to the unique Matthews and Ndotos forests. As a result forest fires have decreased over the last 12 months. Moses also plays a vital role in liaising with other conservation organizations in the region, such as the Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust (a community member of NRT) and Kenya Wildlife Service. Wildlife Security & Monitoring The Milgis Trust Headquarters is based on the top of Elkanto Hill at the junction of the Laananikan and Parsaloi luggas where they become the Milgis Lugga. This location provides a 360-degree view of the luggas and a good vantage point for observing elephants. MT personnel have observed that the elephants in the Laananikan and Parsaloi luggas head downstream (east towards the Milgis lugga) when it is about to rain, and invariably within two days, rain has fallen in this area. As the Milgis dries up the elephants head back upstream (west and south) and up into the mountainous areas of the Matthews and Ndotos ranges. There had been good rainfall in most of the MT area since late As a result, surface and subsurface water had been plentiful in the luggas providing elephants with water. MT scouts provide daily reports of sightings of all wildlife and other incidents (security, poaching, fires, etc.) to headquarters, this is recorded in an occurrence book and data is summarized on a weekly and monthly basis. Observations of elephants by MT personnel suggest elephants have been sighted more frequently in the north and north-west of the Ndoto Mountains over the last two years. Scouts recently recruited in this area will be able to provide additional regular reports on wildlife in future. There has been little elephant conflict over this period. A Milgis Trust scout was chased by an elephant in March 2008, but managed to escape with no injuries. In 2008 MT introduced a monthly census of all wildlife. Scouts record all wildlife sightings and tracks of key species along a 20 km transect. This is repeated each month and provides information on wildlife trends in this area. Results have not yet been analyzed but will provide longterm trends in wildlife abundance and possible density estimates of wildlife in this area. Milgis Trust scouts provide a dual role of security and community awareness/liaison. Scouts are widespread; recently MT scouts have been recruited in areas important for Grevy s Zebra, particularly west and northwest of the MT headquarters towards Baragoi and El Barta. An important role played by scouts in the Matthews Range is to locate forest fires and help reduce this threat to wildlife and the unique forest found in these ranges. Other roles played by MT scouts are ensuring wells in dry river beds remain open and accessible for elephants and other wildlife and repairing these wells when they are destroyed/collapse as a result of elephant use; in some areas communities are closing these wells with thorn barricades to prevent wildlife accessing the water. Data on elephant sightings does not provide information on population numbers of elephants, however it provides an indication of the relative abundance of elephants in different parts of the MT each month. The highest numbers of elephants were sighted in Lkerei (Milgis Lugga) east of the Milgis HQ. This highlights the importance of this area for elephants, particularly as a migratory corridor with large numbers of elephants moving east just prior to the rains and back west after the rain. High numbers of elephants were also seen in Matthews Ranges area, Milgis Base and Southwest Ndotos. Elephants were only sighted in Barsaloi during wet months and in relatively low numbers. Elephants were sighted during most months in south Ndoto albeit in relatively lower numbers than other areas. Kouprey Express Mobile Environment Education Project By Wildlife Alliance Thanks to IEF s generous grant to develop a range of Asian elephant themed educational materials, Wildlife Alliance s Kouprey Express Mobile Environmental Education Project contracted with local environmental NGO Mlup Baitong to produce an elephant storybook, elephant board game, and three mobile interactive elephant education display boards. The development of the storybook differed slightly from that planned, as a Choose Your Own Adventure style novel was deemed too advanced for the target age range (6-14). A more traditional storybook The Friendship of Children and Elephants, was therefore developed, based around the central premise of elephant conservation and interaction with communities in the Cardamom Mountains. Following the delays due to the disputes with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Administration, and the development of the new MoU with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, implementation of the strategic plan has begun well, with a new mobile environmental education team developing and delivering interactive environmental education to rural primary school students to 10 schools in Koh Kong Province, the central geographic focus of Wildlife Alliance s work in the Cardamoms. From October April 2009, the following results have been achieved: Delivered Habitat Protection education module to 1,424 students in 38 classes from 10 schools in Koh Kong Province, increasing awareness on the topic by between 5 to 19 percent among participants. Held four Community Environment Shows attended by 1,490 community members. Conducted field trips to bring selected students from the 10 target schools to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center to meet rescued elephants and learn about elephant conservation

7 12 IEF Volume IEF Volume Delivered a range of elephant-themed education materials including a story book, card game, educational posters, etc. A suite of student and teacher education materials have been produced on habitat and wildlife protection, pollution prevention, and sustainable livelihoods. The grant from the International Elephant Foundation enabled the development of a storybook and associated educational materials on elephant conservation for integration into the Mobile Environmental Education Project s curriculum. In the elephant card game students have 25 questions to answer about elephants, their habitat, and behavior. The questions are designed to stimulate children s interest in the behavior, life cycle, and ecological needs of Cambodia s elephants while preserving the limited number of elephants remaining in the wild. Similar topics are covered in educational posters put up at schools and wildlife rescue facilities, designed to inform students about the lives of elephants in a culturallyappropriate, kid-friendly format. Field trips are an important part of the Kouprey Express work plan. On January 30 to February 1 of 2009, the first student field trip of the educational year took place, taking 50 students (five students per school) from the 10 target schools to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center. There the students visited the animal enclosures and learned about the many different species of rescued animals from an expert Wildlife Alliance biologist. One of the highlights of the students visit was meeting Chhouk, an Asian elephant which had been injured by a poacher s snare in Mondulkiri. Since 2007, Wildlife Alliance has cared for Chhouk and assisted in his rehabilitation. Since his arrival at Phnom Tamao, in the midst of a difficult and lengthy rehabilitation, Chhouk s story was portrayed to a global audience on the Anderson Cooper 360 documentary, Planet in Peril. CNN discussed Chhouk s story as emblematic of the struggles of Cambodia s wild elephant populations, facing increasing pressures of habitat encroachment, poaching, and conflicts with rural villagers. Chhouk is becoming a lifelong ambassador for conservation within Cambodia, highlighting the country s wildlife heritage and drawing attention to the risks of rampant poaching, snaring, and human-wildlife conflict. Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center attracts more than 200,000 Cambodian visitors each year, most of whom lack even a basic understanding of elephants, conservation, and habitat protection. Using Chhouk to demonstrate the threats to Cambodia s wild elephants to the Kouprey Express visitors and other Cambodians enables a conservation impact far beyond the improvement to his own health and welfare. A Forestry Administration member of the Wildlife Alliance supported by Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) was also on hand at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center (PTWRC) to provide information to students on wildlife crimes. The WRRT members are able to explain about the different species at PTWRC which they had rescued from wildlife traders, poachers, and humanwildlife conflict situations. Members of the WRRT meet with the students and community members on these trips and explain about wildlife, their habitat, and the importance of respecting and preserving it. Student participation and informal feedback indicates that the field trip concept is a sound one, giving rural students the opportunity to travel to Phnom Penh, meet students from other rural primary schools in Koh Kong Province, and see representative wildlife native to Southwestern Cambodia. Students were accompanied and supervised by a designated community representative on the trip. Wildlife Alliance is hosting a new VIDA (Volunteering from International Development from Australia) volunteer from July 2009 for a period of 18 months. The new VIDA volunteer s main role will be to advise on project delivery, sustainability, impact, and funding for environmental education programs, including Kouprey Express. Over the past year Wildlife Alliance has focused on improving the capacity of the Cambodian staff and counterparts in the Kouprey Express program, to improve longterm sustainability. Cambodian staff member Sam Veasna has played the principal role in program implementation and reporting. We believe that a greater role for Cambodian staff and partners will strengthen the program s long-term effectiveness, reduce program costs, and improve relationships with rural communities and Cambodian government agencies. Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy By John Leparporit, project manager Kalama Conservancy is among the community conservancies which are actively involved in the conservation of the elephants in Northern Kenya. Recently the project experienced hardships in grazing management due to influx of livestock from sera areas. This was mainly caused by the lack of security between the neighbouring communities and the acute shortage of water, however we managed to achieve the following programs. Security and wildlife monitoring The conservancy, in collaboration with Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), has established a standardized system of community-based monitoring to detect changes, trends, and relative abundance of elephants and other wildlife species. They also monitor the number of security breaches on a daily basis while on routine foot patrols which meet the information needs of the conservancy management. Our scouts have mastered the use of GPS and input the same information into a database. This has really helped the conservancy know the abundance of wildlife and their location due to the computer training that a number of our scouts received through NRT. During the year there were forty-one incidents regarding cattle rustling and highway banditry where the project was actively involved in solving the situation. Rangeland and livestock management The rangeland rehabilitation program has continued this year and a 400-acre plot of acacia refficien was cleared and grass planted. This undesirable bush and ford have replaced natural grasses providing little nutrition for both livestock and wildlife. The project grazing committee have had a number of training sessions and exchange visits to Shompole, Wamba and Isiolo on rangeland management and conflict resolutions and to share experiences. This has enabled the committee to do the following: Set up and enforce grazing regulations Retract human settlement in the conservation area Control livestock grazing in the conservation area Handle wildlife and human conflict matters Report matters of security Organize community meetings for conservation awareness creation. Arbitrate between the warring communities for peaceful coexistence School-based conservation education The key to long term success and sustainability of the conservancy will depend on active participation and empowerment of the people. The conservancy is therefore committed to enhance the participation of community members of all categories men, women and young people in order to create a positive mindset towards conservation. The project has managed to organize the following activities within the neighbouring schools: Bird watching provision of birds books Provision of stationeries and informative materials such as video cassette Documentation of club activities Support educational tours to nearby conservation areas Support club s quarterly competitions and interactions. Support the youth group recreational activities. HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns Infrastructure development and maintenance Kalama community has continued to improve its infrastructure by achieving the following: Grading of airstrip-installation of windsock Repair and painting of staff houses/office Construction of rock catchments at the lodge site Completion of water pan at the lodge area

8 14 IEF Volume IEF Volume The Namibian Elephant and Giraffe Trust Between the 23 rd and 28 th of October 2007, eight elephants were collared with GPS collars provided by Data Scout (SA). Two elephants were collared in the western Hoanib River, four elephants were collared in the Hobatere Game Reserve, and two elephants were collared Omusati regions. Three other elephants were de-collared as they had been collared in previous collaring exercises. This collaring was paid for by USFWS, the International Elephant Foundation and private donors. As of April 2008 all of the new collars had failed, either due to a poor batch of batteries provided by the manufacturer to Data Scout or by the removal of the collars by the elephants themselves. Data Scout undertook to provide, free of charge, an additional eight collars to the project to compensate for the lack of durability of the current collars. They have also undertook to partially fund the next collaring to reduce the cost to the Namibian Elephant and Giraffe Trust (NEGT). Behavioural studies have continued and the heavy rainfall during the wet season resulted in a change in feeding behaviour from mostly browsing during normal years to mostly grazing during the current year. It is too early to tell whether the increase in the abundance of vegetation will have any effect on the elephants reproductive potential. The annual variations in water availability and ambient temperatures are significant in an arid area. This study examines the behaviour of elephants in response to variations in environmental conditions. By definition this study needs to be undertaken over a long time scale to encompass the wide variation in climatic conditions that occur in an arid region. Elephants were individually identified using a combination of photographs and identification sheets. The photographic techniques used were similar to techniques already described by Douglas Hamilton and Douglas-Hamilton (1975), Moss (1982) and Sukumar (1989). Photographs were taken from the front, left and right side of each individual. In addition, field identification sheets were kept for each individual elephant. When an unknown elephant was characterised, it was given a unique nomenclature. During all subsequent observations, its nomenclature, current elephant-elephant associations and activity were recorded. The exception to this was if an elephant broke a tusk or if any additional holes or tears in the ears were noted. In this event, the relevant identification sheets were updated and the changes added to the database. Three different types of activity studies were undertaken and compared. All methods used either point sample techniques or focal sample techniques over specified time intervals. When studying elephant groups, a point sample technique similar to that described by Barnes (1982) and Kalemera (1987) was used. All individual activity within the group was recorded at two-minute intervals for up to three hours. This two-minute scan study obtained data only on feeding, water, resting, social and walking activities for multiple individuals. The second method used a focal sample technique, where known individuals were observed for a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of three hours, data being recorded at fiveminute intervals (Kabigumila, 1993; Lee, 1996). Detailed information on each individual was recorded on a check sheet similar to that described by Lee (1996), and activities were defined in a manner similar to that described by Guy (1976). These were categorised under five main headings and subdivided as follows: Feeding: Grazing, browsing, debarking of trees Activities associated with water: Drinking, wallowing, dust bathing Resting: Standing or sleeping in shade, standing or sleeping in the open or sun Social activities: Playing, fighting, communication, aggression, nursing and courtship Walking The third method also employed a focal sample technique similar to that described by Guy (1976). The technique focused on an individual, with data recorded continuously for between 60 minutes and five hours, using the same activity categories as described for the five-minute focal animal study. A change in behaviour was defined as any activity undertaken for longer than one minute. For example, if an elephant was walking and stopped to feed for less than a minute, the activity would be regarded as walking and not walking/feeding. Throughout the study, and effort was made to collect data on all age groups. For the purposes of this study, age groups were defined as follows: Juvenile (0-5), those elephants that had not yet been weaned; Sub-adult females (5-10), or until they have their own offspring; Sub-adult males (5-14), or until they leave the family unit; and Adults (over 10 years female and 14 years male). During each field trip, attempts were made to collect data on all age groups every hour between 0700 and However, due to seasonal light availability, this was not possible in all morning and evening time slots. Movement of EKM-07 during the hot dry season in the Kunene Region, northwest Namibia This is the first time that this elephant has been collared. EKM-07 is a mature male. After collaring, EKM- 07 spent his time in and around the southern border of Hobatere Game Reserve. His daily movement and home range during the hot dry season were relatively small. This compressed home range during the hot dry season around known water points and safe from disturbance is typical of elephants in this area. Movement of EKM-08 during the hot dry season in the Kunene Region, northwest Namibia Until his collar failed in late November, EKM-08 spent his hot dry season in and around Hobatere Game Reserve. His home range and daily movements were relatively small (see Table 1 for details). Unfortunately, his collar failed before any wet season data could be obtained. The first elephant encountered by the researcher at the start of a research day was observed and activities recorded. If the first individual encountered had been observed in the previous day, observations were not undertaken and another elephant was sought instead to avoid biasing the study to those individuals that were easily found. Most elephants were initially encountered either in the riverbeds

9 16 IEF Volume IEF Volume or on the river plains, then followed and observed. Although this infers a bias towards individuals that reside or traverse these areas, elephants in this area spend about 85 percent of their time in these habitats. When undertaking two-minute scan or fiveminute focal animal studies, it was possible to observe up to four different individuals or groups in a day, depending on accessibility. However, the number of studies that could be undertaken was reduced when longerterm studies were conducted. There was generally a lack of data collected during the wet season as it was difficult to get into the field due to rainfall and flooding in the rivers. Identification and social studies are ongoing. As calves are born or any new elephants appear in the research area, they are identified, photographed and catalogued. Seasonal activity budget studies are currently in process and only preliminary analysis has been conducted. These studies also included behavioural and social interactions as well as current herd associations. The desert-dwelling elephant s reproductive rate is probably one of the lowest of any elephant population. This study was undertaken to assess birth rates, mortality and the ratio of males to females in the elephant population of northwest Namibia. The family units and free roaming males of the research area were studied by direct observation and data recorded over the 10 years of study. The reproduction rate of the desertdwelling elephants varies considerably and is dependent on environmental conditions. Viljoen (1988) determined that the reproduction rate of elephants in the arid western areas of Namibia was 1.9 percent, while in the eastern section of the research area, it was 2.8 percent. Viljoen s study was conducted in , a period of high stress for the elephants. Not only was there a civil war but there was also an arid climatic cycle that was affecting elephants behaviour. During the NEGT study period, 14 calves have been born (reproduction rate of ~2.5 percent) in the arid Movement of EKM-10 during the hot dry and wet seasons in the Kunene Region, northwest Namibia 2007/2008. This is the first time that this elephant has been collared. EKM-10 remained within the borders of Hobatere Game Reserve during the 2007 hot dry season. Only erratic readings were recorded from EKM-10 s collar during the 2008 wet season. However, they placed this elephant in the areas to the west of Hobatere Game Reserve. As very little data were obtained from this collar it was difficult to draw any conclusions. Movement of WKM-10 during the hot dry and wet seasons in the Kunene Region, northwest Namibia 2007/2008. WKM-10 was collared for the fourth time. He still has the largest home range of any of the collared elephants in northern Namibia and one of the largest home ranges ever recorded for African elephants. WKM-10 spent the hot dry season in the Hoanib River. He moved to the eastern section of the research area in early February He stayed in this area until early March 2008 before moving briefly further east into Etosha National Park. Unfortunately, his collar failed at this time. He was observed to have returned to the western Hoanib River early in August western areas. These reproduction rates are low compared to those in elephant populations in higher rainfall areas of Namibia, with reproduction rates of up to 3.3 percent in the eastern section of the research area (Leggett, unpublished) and Etosha National Park (Lindeque, 1991). The reason for the low reproduction rates in the western region is probably due to the effect of the arid environment and the lack of nutritious vegetation. Mortalities 2006/2007 was a relatively low rainfall year, with no rainfall recorded west of Sesfontein. Interestingly, only two mortalities (one adult female (20 to 24 years of age) and one juvenile (two years of age) were recorded during the 2006/2007 drought period. Neither of these two deaths could be directly attributed to the drought itself. The adult female was shot by a local Ovahimba herdsman who claimed that the female attacked him. This is possible as the female had a young calf (the other mortality) and she may have been protecting the calf. The calf was still suckling at the time and lasted only three more months in the care of her grandmother. Malnutrition was thought to be responsible for the calf s death. It is possible that the drought was not over a significantly long enough period to affect mortality. In the 10 years of the study, four calves (two males and two females), two sub-adults (both males), and four adults (two females and two males) have died. Of these, one adult female and one sub-adult male were shot by either problem animal control or local herdsmen. Several meetings have been undertaken with MET officials both in Outjo and Windhoek concerning elephants and elephant-related activities. One community meeting was undertaken with members of the Sesfontein Conservancy. It has been agreed to undertake a series of training seminars with local conservancy members. The venue and timing of these training seminars has yet to be determined. After several unsuccessful approaches to conservancies, an alternative way of training conservancy game guides has been developed with the Namibian Academy for Tourism and Hospitality (NATH). Two courses were offered through NATH in Initially, the course was offered to tour Movement of WKM-20 during the hot dry and wet seasons in the Kunene Region, northwest Namibia 2007/2008. WKM-20 was a young male and this is the first time that this elephant has been collared. Shortly after collaring, WKM-20 moved to the south of the Hoanib River and spent his time there. In February 2008, WKM-20 moved from the hills in the south of the Hoanib River catchment to the east, joining WKM-10 in the area to the east of Hobatere Game Reserve. He remained here until early April 2008, when his collar failed. He was observed to have returned to the western Hoanib River in October Movement of WOM-01 during the hot dry and early wet seasons in the Omusati Region, northwest Namibia 2007/2008. This is the first time that this elephant has been collared. WOM-05 stayed in the area where he was collared for the entire hot dry season, with small daily movements and home range. During the wet season, before WOM-05 s collar failed, he spent his time in the areas north of where he was collared. His range was larger than during the hot dry season, but still quite restricted. guides already employed by safari companies; at a later time, conservancy game guides will be offered the same course.

10 18 IEF Volume IEF Volume IEF 2010 Conservation Project Grants all of our projects that influence policy may be considered to have IEF backing. These vary from elephant bee deterrents to sophisticated tracking, from geo-fencing to the analysis of ranging behavior, DNA and hormones. Through the monitoring of illegally killed elephants, the definition of elephant corridors and by looking at dispersal areas, Save The Elephants is able to provide key data to the Kenya Wildlife Service. This data is being used to influence the 2009 management strategy for elephant conservation for Kenya, a policy that will be in place for the next eight years. Our data is being used by protected are management authorities in the four regions of Africa where we Work. - Alice Leslie, Save The Elephants As the manager of Cambodia Elephant Conservation Group, CECG, FFI program in Cambodia and villagers near elephant habitats affected by HEC, I would like to say thanks IEF very much for support of the elephant conservation in Cambodia. We chose local people who were formally hunters and loggers to be community chief and members. Through their work with conservation, their attitudes have changed significantly. They have stopped requesting compensation for crop or property loss. Instead they changed the crop as they have received skills and training in agriculture. The net result being that no land/forest encroachment has occurred in the area we are working. And according to a recent report from our field team, foot prints of at least three new baby elephants have been recorded. - Tuy Sereivathana Support for Community-based Conservation of Elephants in the Ndoto Ranges, Northern Kenya ( ) The area of land under community-based conservation management in northern Kenya is increasing as communities become aware of the benefits that conservation can bring to them through alternative income generation, improved security and improved land management. It is widely recognized that it is vital to involve local communities in conservation to retain an ecosystem approach to conservation through the protection of large areas of land, allowing for the continued migration of wildlife through their natural range. This is particularly important for species such as Grevy s Zebra, African Wild Dog and Elephant that have large home ranges and require access to vast tracts of land. The benefits of these community conservation initiatives are becoming apparent as they create an enabling environment for economic development including tourism and improved livestock marketing. Support for the core activities of Save The Elephants ( ) Save The Elephants (STE) was founded by Dr. Iain Douglas- Hamilton. During the 1970s, Dr. Douglas-Hamilton investigated the status of elephants throughout Africa and was the first to alert the world to the ivory poaching holocaust. He chronicled how Africa s elephant population was halved between 1979 and 1989 and helped bring about the world ivory trade ban. STE operates in every African environment desert, forest, bushveld and savannah. IEF s support of core activities allows STE to develop, launch and manage its varied wildlife activities such as: 1. Radio Tracking Elephants and Other Endangered Species 2. Long Term Monitoring of the Samburu Elephants in Kenya 3. Elephants and Bees Project 4. Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants 5. Laikipia Human-Elephant Conflict Alleviation Project 6. Education Programme 7. Predator Project 8. The Human Footprint 9. South African Transboundary Project 10. Central African Forest Elephant Project 11. The Last of the Sahelian Elephants 12. The Ivory Markets of America 13. Elephant News Service Sumatran Elephant Conservation Centers and Conservation Response Units ( ) Captive elephants play an important conservation role by providing transportation for their mahouts and government forest rangers during forest monitoring patrol activities to reduce wildlife crime, as a tool for gaining local community interest of their importance of conserving elephants and their habitat during awareness events, and driving away crop raiding wild elephants should human-elephant conflict incidents arise. Establishment of a Human-Elephant Conflict Response Network in Cambodia ( ) This project conserves key elephant habitat including historical elephant corridors by piloting Participatory Land Use Planning (PLUP) and improves livelihood strategies including changing farming practices to elephant- friendly methods and non-palatable crops, raising awareness at the local level of the importance of clear and strategic land-use planning and the economic and financial benefits it can bring, increasing academic and practical capacity of Khmer staff from grassroots to national level which will help to underwrite the long-term sustainability of the CECG programme, and reduce Human- Elephant conflict and stress on surrounding pristine elephant habitat. Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka ( ) The purpose of the project is to study Asian elephant social behavior and population dynamics in the Uda Walawe National Park. Elephants in the park are threatened by development outside of the park and data will ultimately help in the making of wildlife management decisions that reduce human-elephant conflict and provide alternate development strategies to help sustain the elephant population in Sri Lanka. AZA Principles of Elephant Management Scholarship ( ) IEF provides an annual scholarship to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association s Principles of Elephant Management weeklong training course. The course, designed for elephant keepers, details the latest in husbandry, management, training and other aspects of managing elephants in human care. International Elephant Conservation and Research Symposium ( ) IEF sponsors this annual international meeting that concentrates on the research and conservation needs of captive and wild populations of elephants. Hosted at a different institution (internationally) each year, the symposium attracts delegates from around the world to discuss and share the most recent information on elephant behavior, research, management and human elephant conflict mitigation. Save the Elephants Listservs on African and Asian Elephants: Enhancing Elephant Conservation and Education ( ) As elephant management in Africa and Asia confronts the ever-increasing difficulties of maintaining populations in the wild, there is a critical need for access to information on the part of managers and decision makers on all continents. The listserv provides comprehensive, up-to-date news on elephant research and conservation, and alerts its audiences to a wide variety of scientific papers, web sites and workshops concerning elephants. This information helps managers, NGOs, and donors to draw up plans and policies for elephant conservation in the light of available knowledge gleaned from the electronic news media. Study to reduce elephant deaths caused by Endotheliotropic Elephant Herpes Virus (EEHV) ( ) EEHV is a serious threat to all populations of Asian elephants and the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of EEHV is a high priority for the international elephant community. A complete epidemiologic picture of EEHV and the clarification of the EEHV status of individual elephants and their potential for shedding the virus would aid in the prediction of future outbreaks, as well as identifying the mode of transmission, preventing the transmission of the disease, recognizing the occurrence of the disease early to allow for immediate treatment, and identifying predisposing factors that make specific elephants more susceptible to the disease. Kouprey Express Program: Assam Elephant Education and Public Outreach, Cambodia (2008, 2010) Education standards in Cambodia are among the poorest in the Asia/Pacific region with adult literacy at only 64% and rural literacy even lower. Many rural families subsist on scarce natural resources, living below the poverty line. With an increasing population, competition for resources between wildlife and humans will become increasingly confrontational if rural populations do not become more aware of the needs and importance of wildlife and the environment. This project will connect young people directly with wildlife conservation issues and provide detailed information about elephant education and wildlife conservation efforts to 300,000 Cambodians and international visitors. Consultation on Trans-boundary Agreement to Develop Indo-Nepal Elephant Conservation Plan, Nepal (2010) This project will start a consultation on a transboundary agreement along the Nepal and India (West Bengal) border to

11 20 IEF Volume Improving protection for Nigeria s largest elephant population in Yankari Reserve, Nigeria (2010) Yankari Game Reserve contains the largest surviving population of elephants in Nigeria and is also home to populations of lion, buffalo, hippo, and many species of antelope. Since management of the reserve has been neglected, there has been a resurgence of poaching, especially of elephants for the ivory trade. This project aims at building capacity by helping to increase antipoaching patrols, establishing a Cybertracker monitoring system and surveying human-elephant conflicts. develop a joint conservation plan for long term conservation of elephant populations. This will be done by a series of workshops with all transboundary stakeholders. Additional an educational program will be initiated to generate tolerance among local communities. Promoting Human-Elephant Coexistence in Coimbatore, South India (2010) This project will educate all people living in or near elephant habitat of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to improve their attitudes towards wild elephants so as to avoid conflict, adapt innovative educational tools to bring about attitudinal and behavioral change to people living near elephant habitat, train 90 key educators to use these tools effectively, and make this project sustainable through workshops and other active learning techniques. ElefantAsia: Domesticated Elephant Advanced Registration, Laos (2008, 2010) This project will microchip the entire domesticated Asian elephant population of Laos which will help to monitor the illegal capture of elephants from the wild, the smuggling of elephants to neighboring nations, strengthen skills and capacity of local government departments, and will provide a greater ability for population forecasting, scientific study and breeding opportunities for the elephant population in human care. Elephant Kisima and Lturoto Crews, Ndoto Ranges, Northern Kenya (2010) Kisimas are deep excavations (made by elephants and people) to gain access to much needed water in the arid land of Kenya s Northern Frontier District. Nomadic peoples often construct kisimas of over 25 feet deep which become hazardous to wild elephants and other animals. This project will create a network of crews from the local Samburu and Rendille communities who will, with the guidance of 24 community scouts, restructure and monitor the current kisimas into elephant-friendly water holes as well as create new iturots (small water reservoirs). Monitoring and Outreach for the Desert Elephants of the Southern Kunene, Namibia (2010) This project implements population census and distribution surveys of the southern Kunene desert elephants, integrates this information in the Kunene Regional Ecological Assessment an ongoing multistakeholder project to develop synchronized, incentivedriven, community and science-based land management plans, and fosters sustainability by ensuring all activities are cost-effective and fully supported by the stakeholders. Establishing an elephant sanctuary in the Omo-ShashaOluwa forest of SW Nigeria (2010) The Omo-Shasah-Oluwa Forest Reserves contain some of the last remaining forests in south-western Nigeria which harbors a remnant population for forest elephants. This area is being severely threatened by logging and over-hunting and studies show that this population of forest elephants is in danger of becoming extinct within five years. This project will survey communities living around the natural forest areas to understand the human pressures on them. It will recommend ways to work with communities to protect the forests. The project will also support liaison with the three state governments to re-gazette the forests and assist with their protection. Elephants, Crops and People and the Waterways Project, Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF) ( ) This multi-year partnership between IEF and UCF has resulted in the development of a system of fencing and trenches that keep elephants out of fields and villages while protecting human lives and allowing children to attend school without a fear of elephants. This project has also constructed and equipped multiple marine stations on the shores of Lake George in Queen Elizabeth National Park which already is having a significant impact on the ability of law enforcement to reverse elephant and hippopotamus poaching, illegal fishing and to initiate water rescue for the communities that make their livelihood from the resources of the lake. Publication of the Gajah the Journal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group ( ) Gajah, which means elephant, is a journal dedicated to Asian elephant conservation and it is the Journal of the IUCN/Asian Elephant Specialist Group. Gajah shares best practices and builds capacity amongst managers, conservationists, researchers and to those interested in the management and conservation of the Asian elephant, both wild and those in human care. IEF Volume

12 22 IEF Volume IEF Volume Thank you for your support The International Elephant Foundation would like to extend gratitude to the following individuals and organizations for their contributions. Your donations help us ensure the continued survival of African and Asian elephants in both the wild and in human care for generations to come. Tuskers - $25,000 and above Disney s Animal Kingdom Feld Entertainment/RBBB St. Louis Zoo Matriarchs - $10,000 - $24,999 African Lion Safari Birmingham Zoo AAZK Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Denver Zoo Fort Worth Zoo Houston Zoo Woodland Park Zoo San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park Guardians - $5,000 - $9,999 Calgary Zoo Columbus Zoo Copenhagen Zoo Have Trunk Will Travel Nashville Zoo Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens Roger Williams Park Zoo Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Utah s Hogle Zoo Vienna Zoo Zoological Association of America 2008 Donors Benefactors - $1,000 4,999 Albuquerque Biological Park BREC s Baton Rouge Zoo Blank Park Zoo Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Teresa Cirvlia, Working Assets Dickerson Park Zoo European Circus Association Greenville Zoo Hill & Knowlton, Inc. John & KathyLehnhardt The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore Miller Equipment Co. Milwaukee County Zoo Niabi Zoo Omaha Zoological Society Oregon Zoo Drs. James & Linda Peddie Eric Reifschneider Linda Reifschneider Laura Richman-Steele Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park Sedgwick County Zoo Toronto Zoo Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum Zoo de Granby Stewards $500 - $999 AAZK of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo AAZK Oklahoma City Zoo Abilene Zoo Ara Ashburne Little Rock Zoo Miami MetroZoo Virginia & Eric Pearson Philadelphia Zoo Docent Council Dean Rice Seneca Park Zoo AAZK Chapter Seneca Park Zoo Topeka Zoological Park Laura van der Meer $100 - $499 Baton Rouge Zoo AAZK Bhagavan Antle Michael Brown Eddie & Mary Bucanek Deborah Coquillon Carrie Davidson Georgia Delacruz Carlos Diaz Diana Daunt Barry Egenes Erica Lynn Elfring Jetta Elliott Marian Engelhorn Bonnie Esrig Mark and Cherrilee Fox Mathew Giffen Nancy G reytor James Halper Rachada Hansen Wayne Johnson Stephen Johnston Elisabeth Kaiser Vera Khlopoff Carol Kinney Michael Lambert Erin Latimer Robert & Terrel Lefferts Lion Country Safari Elspeth Mann Jeff Massey Karen Sue Meyer Nancy Mulholand Christophe Nathan Robert Olp Stephan Parsons Bobbie Peters Debra Pope Dorian Quinlan Mari Rankin Robert Redding Diana Rees Anne Riechers Thomas Russell Stephanie Scheivert Rebecca Schwartz Kimberly Scritchfield Christina Sema Gail Seygal Caron Smith Diane Stern Farinez Tabatabai David Tellet J.A. Their Julian Tran Jane Weinstein Wuppertal Zoo Robert Wild $1 - $99 Susan Alexander Dolores Anderson Bernadette Anyzek Carole Ashmead Jason Bal Donna Bambrick Mary Bates Elizabeth Bell Robert Berghaier Diane & John Bergstrom Beatrice Bojorquez Connie Brittain Maria Bulkley Tuskers $25,000 and above Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Disney Worldwide Services Feld Entertainment, Inc Zoo Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Saint Louis Zoo Matriarchs $10,000 - $24,999 Aid for Africa City of Albuquerque Denver Zoo Fort Worth Zoo Houston Zoo Indianapolis Zoo Zoological Society of San Diego Christina Bush Donna Buss O Bryan Chris Calhoun Mary Ann Carmichael Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens Susan Colton Sarah Conley Mike Connolly David & Diana Cortes Domenica Crough Diane Defeo Christina Dudka Karen Dreisigacker Judith Ehrman Harrison Euton Antonin Faltis Janice Fasiska Amy Tecosky Feldmen Ron Fricke Caitlin Gibson GoodSearch Elizabeth Granfort Gretchen Grogan Lori Hall Katrina Hartwig Stephen Hecht Teresa Hernandez David Hicks Joanne Horn Vivianne Horwitz Ralph Jendal Barbara Johnson Linde Johnson Sandra Joseph, Cheryl & David Keely Karen Kennedy/Jim Stieler Rita Kisner Janet Krevenas Katrina Lande Stephanie Leach Jeanne Luker Arthur McManus Jerry Malmo Pamela Maraziti Chandra Marrs 2009 Donors Guardians $5,000 - $9,999 African Lion Safari Columbus Zoo Elephant Managers Association Have Trunk Will Travel Roger Williams Park Zoo Santa Barbara Zoo Vienna Zoo Woodland Park Zoo Oregon Zoo Foundation Benefactors $ $4,999 Audubon Zoo Baton Rouge Zoo Calgary Zoo Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Katie Mason Sibby Medicus Constance Bradley Merwin Lucas Mikeska Modr. Eu Quovarda Murdock Jean Nec Network For Good Lourene Nevels Sally Pearne Bethanie Porman Charlotte Powell Elise Provenzano Shirley Purring Pat Richards Heather Ridenour Jennifer & Jim Ritter Caleb Rogovin Maria Rough Addyson Santese Eric Satlow David Schaffer MD Shirlee Schaub Denia Segrest Chicago Zoological Society Cincinnati Zoo Cleveland Metroparks Dallas Zoo Dickerson Park Zoo George Carden Circus Intl. Greenville Zoo Henry Doorly Zoo Jumbo Distributing Louisville Zoo Maryland Zoological Society Memphis Zoo Milwaukee Cty Zoo North Carolina Zoological Society Jim and Linda Peddie Point Defiance Zoological Patricia Shermer Linda Shivvers Ann Sickles Dalia Singer James Boyd Smith Joanne Smith Ruth Solomon Marilyn Steiner Sharon Strauch Sydney Flooring Solutions Carol Tassini Richard Teter Robin Tillman Frances Turlinski Aniruddha Vengurlekar Vincent Vesci, Jr. William Waldo Washington Post Peter Wayne Raymond Weaver Kameron White Monique Wong Society Laura Richman-Steele Linda Reifschneider Rosamond Gifford Zoo San Antonio Zoo Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Toledo Zoo Utah s Zoological Society Valley Zoo Development Society Zoo Atlanta 2009 donors continued on back page

13 24 IEF Volume Donors cont. Stewards $500 - $999 Abilene Zoo City of Garden City Martha Fischer Jacksonville Zoo Miami Metro Philadelphia Zoo Seneca Park Zoo Tulsa Zoo Friends $100 - $499 AAZK Oklahoma City Zoo Baton Rouge Zoo AAZK Chris Clifford City of Little Rock Columbus Zoo docents Cowabunga Safaris Harrison Euton Marc Gelber Susan Hoss Robert Lefferts Mark Hauber Lion Country Safari Pat & Del Shermer So. Cal. Chapter ATHS April West Peter West (Energy Trust) Tracy Zlotkus $ 1 -$99 Karl Albrecht James Bartos Artistic Outpost Rachel Berg Beatrice Bojorquez Jennifer Chang John-Michael Chavez Colleen Kauntz Cockburn James Concha Michael Connolly Carla Cook Chelsy Craig Georgia Delacruz Peter Demerjian Susan Donnelly Philip Dulaney Cheryl Fregin Kathy Fritze Anna Gale Elizabeth Gelber Victoria Gibson Darren Grandish Christopher Gunther Steven Hanson Tim Hiscocks Ralph Jerndal Molly Kerr Christiane Krogh Rachel Lane Ha ehu Lee Theresa Lundy Joseph LaBonte Timothy Lane Erin Latimer Jordan Lumb Tom McCready Hilllary McInerny Constance Merwin Network for Good Donna Buss O Bryan Deborah Olson Nashville Zoo Amy Palmer Mark Payson Jana Pingle Elise Provenzano Etienne Puckett Eric Satlow Lori Shepherd Patricia Shermer Caron Smith Jennifer Smith Joanna Smith Aravind Sreenivasan Ralph Steer David Tellet Jeff Tillinghast Janet Trias Richard Verdoni Jennifer Walker Thomas Wallett Jane Weinstein Victoria Whipple Robert Wild Sandy Wolf Patricia Zych-Jamison Support the IEF Your donation can help make a world of difference The International Elephant Foundation* is dedicated to conserving African and Asian elephants by providing funds and scientific expertise to support elephant research and conservation programs worldwide. Your donation is tax deductible in accordance with U.S. laws and will help fund conservation efforts such as habitat protection, education programs and research. Join us in the fight to conserve the elephant! I/We would like to help the IEF by donating: $25 $50 $100 $250 $500 $1,000 other $ Name Address City State Country Zip/Country Code Phone ( ) Payment Check Visa MasterCard Discover Acct # Exp. date Signature Please make checks payable to The International Elephant Foundation. Mail your donation and completed form to: International Elephant Foundation P.O. Box 366 Azle, TX Thank you for your support! * 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, CFC # Ask if your employer participates in employee matching contribution programs.