How many elephants can you fit into a conservation area

Apart from keeping the forest safe for the elephants, the management board has also worked on making sure locals know how to respond if they see elephants near their neighborhood. Training courses have been organized to equip farmers with skills to send the elephants away without harming them in any way. As this tree has thorns, it will help prevent the elephants from leaving the forest and moving into residential areas," said Duong. The herd has expanded to eight after a baby elephant was born last year.

It has four female grownups, one female and two males that are yet to attain full maturity. The fact that an elephant calf has appeared in the nature is a very good sign for the work of elephant conservation here," Ngoc said. However, it will still take a lot more effort to protect and develop the herd, he added. Scientists have said that for the long-term survival and to avoid short-term genetic erosion of an elephant population, the minimum number of individuals in a herd should be , and the current herd is too small for a long-term development, Ngoc said.

He said the first priority is to protect the eight elephants and their habitat so that they can increase their population.

Then much more work should be done to expand their habitat. To do this, "further studies need to clarify the ecological pressure, genetic diversity and demographic changes of elephant populations in the sanctuary," he said.

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Current Biology , Wall et al. Current Biology CurrentBiology , published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists.

To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press cell. Join more than one million wildlife lovers working to save the Earth's most treasured and threatened species. News Releases. WCS, ,. Media Contacts Stephen Sautner,. Toggle navigation. Language English. A numbers game: Managing elephants in southern Africa. Posted on 18 July In some parts of Africa, elephant numbers are increasing as a result of years of successful conservation efforts. But in some places large populations are giving rise to increased human-wildlife conflict where elephants are known to raid local crops and even threaten peoples' lives.

Find out more about elephant management in South Africa and Namibia.