Asian elephants and their status in Nepal: a review

Wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are one of the most endangered wildlife species in Nepal. Currently, there are approximately 200 to 250 wild elephants counted in Nepal. Of them, 15-20 are in Jhapa district, 17 are in KoshiTappu Wildlife Reserve, eight in Sindhuli, and 45-50 in Parsa National Park andChitwan National Park. More than 100 elephants are in Bardiya National Parks and adjoining municipalities, and 25-30 are in Suklaphanta National Park and adjoining municipalities.Elephant conservation is challenged by habitat fragmentation, obstruction of migratory routes and human-elephant conflict. The governments of Nepal, law enforcement, NGOs, and local communities have made various initiatives to conserve elephants. In the paper, we have outlined the current status of the elephant population, and its conservative efforts. This study may be a useful tool for the scientific communities and ecologists to protect elephants from extinction.

Download Full-text

Open garbage dumps near protected areas in Uttarakhand: an emerging threat to Asian Elephants in the Shivalik Elephant Reserve

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.4392.12.11.16571-16575 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 16571-16575

Author(s):

Kanchan Puri ◽

Ritesh Joshi ◽

Vaibhav Singh

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

National Parks ◽

Solid Waste Management ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Natural Food ◽

Wildlife Protection ◽

Asian Elephants ◽

Wildlife Species ◽

Elephant Population ◽

Proper Disposal

Waste dumping sites near protected areas are a growing issue, which may affect the activities and behaviour of wildlife, more than what we notice. Here, we present two of our case studies, where Asian Elephants were found feeding at garbage dumps in Haridwar and Ramnagar forest divisions in the Shivalik Elephant Reserve in Uttarakhand State. Since garbage dumps may spread bacterial infection and induce adverse changes in the health conditions of the elephant population, we draw the attention of planners to develop a plan of action for proper disposal of the garbage through these preliminary observations, without affecting protected areas and wildlife species, including elephants. Moreover, collection of data on the presence of garbage dumps across the reserve and a study on the behavioural responses of scavenging and non-scavenging animals visiting the dumps would give us a better understanding of the level of impact of garbage dumps for disposal planning. It is to emphasize that garbage does not constitute a part of natural food for elephants. There are restrictions and guidelines in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and Guidelines for Declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Download Full-text

Current status of asian elephant population Elephas maximus in Pumat National Park Region, Nghe An Province

ACADEMIA JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY ◽

10.15625/2615-9023/v42n2.14668 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Nguyen Xuan Nghia ◽

Nguyen Tien Dat ◽

Nguyen Xuan Dang ◽

Tran Xuan Cuong ◽

Vo Cong Anh Tuan

Keyword(s):

Adult Male ◽

National Park ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Current Status ◽

Rubber Plantation ◽

Asian Elephants ◽

Worldwide Population ◽

Protected Forests ◽

Elephant Population ◽

Number Of Individuals

Asian elephants are under high threats of extinction in Vietnam and worldwide. Population assessment of Asian elephants in Pumat National Park (NP) region, carried out in 2018−2019, showed that the wild Asian elephants population this region consisted of 3 groups with a total of 13−14 individuals. In Tuong Duong District, a group of 4-5 individuals lived in an area near Canh Ta stream (Tam Dinh commune, Vietnam) and Nam Xi stream (Muong Long commune, Laos), across the border between Vietnam and Laos. The group in Con Cuong district, with only one adult female, lived in forest compartments 780, 781,789 and 786 of Con Cuong Forestry Company, within the buffer zone of Pumat NP. The group in Anh Son district consisted of 8 individuals (5 adult females, 1 adult male, 1 sub-adult male and an juvenile born in 2016). They live in Cao Veu sector of Pumat NP core zone and buffer zone areas consisting of protected forests, rubber plantation forests and agricultural lands of households in Phuc Son Commune (Anh Son District) and Thanh Duc Commune (Thanh Chuong District).Wild Asian elephants in Pumat NP region are facing dangers of extinction due to their small number as well as direct and indirect threats from human. The elephant group in Anh Son district, with the largest number of individuals consisting of breeding males, breeding females and a calf, is the most important for the maintainance and future development of elephant population within Puman NP. However, they are facing a number of serious threats such as: un-controlled wildlife hunting and trade; rapid decrease and degradation of natural forest outside of Pumat National Park; and increasingly serious human-elephant conflicts.

Download Full-text

Are We Loving Our National Parks to Death? A Call for Research on Crime and Law Enforcement in the U.S. National Park System

Criminal Justice Review ◽

10.1177/07340168211015726 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073401682110157

Author(s):

William Andrew Stadler ◽

Cheryl Lero Jonson ◽

Brooke Miller Gialopsos

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Future Research ◽

Road Map ◽

Current State ◽

Park Service ◽

Service Data ◽

National Park System ◽

The U.S

Despite a recent surge of visitation and frequent media accounts of lawlessness in America’s national parks, little empirical research has been dedicated to crime and law enforcement in the U.S. national park system. The absence of systematic crime and justice research within these protected spaces should raise concern, as recent park service data and intra-agency reports suggest visitor growth, funding and personnel declines, operational shortcomings, and technology constraints may endanger the capacity of the National Park Service (NPS) to adequately address anticipated crime threats in the 21st century. This call for research aims to raise awareness of the contemporary law enforcement challenges facing this federal agency and encourage the study of crime and justice issues within the U.S. national park system. We briefly examine the evolution and current state of NPS law enforcement and its associated challenges and conclude with a conceptual road map for future research occurring in these protected spaces.

Download Full-text

Beyond the “Pine Pig”

Radical History Review ◽

10.1215/01636545-8092798 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (137) ◽

pp. 96-118

Author(s):

Toby Beauchamp

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Environmental Control ◽

State Violence ◽

Popular Discourse ◽

The Us

Abstract This article shows how the US national park ranger comes to function simultaneously as friendly, educational caretaker and as policing authority forged through and upholding state violence. It argues that long-standing government and popular discourse distinguishing rangers from “real” police naturalizes and actively supports the ranger’s authoritative role in hierarchies of power. This framework further obscures the violent mechanisms of social and environmental control that underwrite the national parks as such. At the same time, however, the article suggests that persistent efforts to distinguish rangers from law enforcement create an opportunity to practice collaborative and anti-authoritarian forms of protection.

Download Full-text

Discussion on ecotourism management of Giant Panda National Park in China

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202014302036 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 143 ◽

pp. 02036 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xiaoyu Duan ◽

Shuhui Yang

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Giant Panda ◽

Ecological Integrity ◽

Current Status ◽

Giant Pandas ◽

Existing Problems ◽

Natural Reserve ◽

Development Direction ◽

Science And Education

The Giant Panda National Park is one of the important contents in the construction of a natural reserve system based on national parks in China. It undertakes the responsibility of biodiversity conservation based on giant pandas, and takes into account functions such as recreation, science, and education. On the basis of protecting ecological integrity, the development of eco-tourism is an important issue to be considered in the construction of national parks. This paper combines the current status and trends of ecotourism development in national parks at home and abroad, and summarizes the advantages and existing problems of ecotourism in Giant Panda National Park, and discusses the development direction and construction content of ecotourism management.

Download Full-text

A new policy for the management of the Kruger National Park's elephant population

Koedoe ◽

10.4102/koedoe.v42i1.228 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

I.J. Whyte ◽

H.C. Biggs ◽

A. Gaylard ◽

L.E.O. Braack

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis ◽

Integrated System ◽

Kruger National Park ◽

Habitat Modification ◽

Elephant Population ◽

History Of ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Impact Zones

Arising from public debate held in Midrand on 4 May 1995, the South African National Parks undertook to review its policy for the management of elephant in the Kruger National Park. The new policy focuses on the extent and intensity of elephant impacts on biodiversity rather than on numbers of elephants per se, and is based on four fundamental principles: a) That ecosystems are not static; fluctuations of conditions and population responses are an inherent attribute of ecosystems and contribute to biodiversity. A range of elephant impacts in different areas at different times, is thus also natural and desirable; b) That elephants are important agents of habitat modification and thus contribute to biodiversity (intermediate disturbance hypothesis); c) That elephant populations which are confined will increase in number until negative impacts on the system's biodiversity will ultimately result; d) That elephants should not be viewed in isolation, but as one component of a broader, integrated system, and their impacts should be managed in conjunction with other ecosystem process (such as fire) to promote biodiversity in its broadest sense. The new policy proposes that the Kruger National Park be divided into six zones@two botanical reserves, two high-elephant-impact zones (no population reduction) and two low-elephant-impact zones (where numbers will be actively reduced). A history of the elephant population is given, and a resume of previous poli-cies.

Download Full-text

From Competition to Cooperation: A History of Canada–US National Park Relations

Environment and History ◽

10.3197/096734019x15631846928783 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Terence Young ◽

Alan MacEachern ◽

Lary Dilsaver

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

The United States ◽

The Us ◽

Park Service ◽

Settler Societies ◽

History Of ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Flow Of Information ◽

The Relationship

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.

Download Full-text

Into Russian Nature

10.1093/oso/9780190914554.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alan D. Roe

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

National Parks ◽

International Organizations ◽

National Park ◽

World War ◽

Nature Protection ◽

Soviet Government ◽

History Of ◽

Development Goals

Into Russian Nature examines the history of the Russian national park movement. Russian biologists and geographers had been intrigued with the idea of establishing national parks before the Great October Revolution but pushed the Soviet government successfully to establish nature reserves (zapovedniki) during the USSR’s first decades. However, as the state pushed scientists to make zapovedniki more “useful” during the 1930s, some of the system’s staunchest defenders started supporting tourism in them. In the decades after World War II, the USSR experienced a tourism boom and faced a chronic shortage of tourism facilities. Also during these years, Soviet scientists took active part in Western-dominated international environmental protection organizations, where they became more familiar with national parks. In turn, they enthusiastically promoted parks for the USSR as a means to reconcile environmental protection and economic development goals, bring international respect to Soviet nature protection efforts, and help instill a love for the country’s nature and a desire to protect it in Russian/Soviet citizens. By the late 1980s, their supporters pushed transformative, and in some cases quixotic, park proposals. At the same time, national park opponents presented them as an unaffordable luxury during a time of economic struggle, especially after the USSR’s collapse. Despite unprecedented collaboration with international organizations, Russian national parks received little governmental support as they became mired in land-use conflicts with local populations. While the history of Russia’s national parks illustrates a bold attempt at reform, the state’s failure’s to support them has left Russian park supporters deeply disillusioned.

Download Full-text

Values of Travel Time for Recreational Trips under Different Behavioural Rules

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126831 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6831

Author(s):

Rosa Marina González ◽

Concepción Román ◽

Ángel Simón Marrero

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

National Parks ◽

Traffic Congestion ◽

National Park ◽

Revealed Preference ◽

Discrete Choice Models ◽

Model Specification ◽

Regret Minimization ◽

Random Regret Minimization

In this study, discrete choice models that combine different behavioural rules are estimated to study the visitors’ preferences in relation to their travel mode choices to access a national park. Using a revealed preference survey conducted on visitors of Teide National Park (Tenerife, Spain), we present a hybrid model specification—with random parameters—in which we assume that some attributes are evaluated by the individuals under conventional random utility maximization (RUM) rules, whereas others are evaluated under random regret minimization (RRM) rules. We then compare the results obtained using exclusively a conventional RUM approach to those obtained using both RUM and RRM approaches, derive monetary valuations of the different components of travel time and calculate direct elasticity measures. Our results provide useful instruments to evaluate policies that promote the use of more sustainable modes of transport in natural sites. Such policies should be considered as priorities in many national parks, where negative transport externalities such as traffic congestion, pollution, noise and accidents are causing problems that jeopardize not only the sustainability of the sites, but also the quality of the visit.

Download Full-text

The Wadden Sea as a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site: Students’ Word Associations with These Two Conservation Designations

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13148006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 8006

Author(s):

Till Schmäing ◽

Norbert Grotjohann

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Wadden Sea ◽

World Heritage ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Unesco World Heritage ◽

Word Associations ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Unesco World Heritage Site ◽

Significant Difference

The Wadden Sea ecosystem is unique in many respects from a biological perspective. This is one reason why it is protected by national parks in Germany and by its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In biology didactics, there are only a few studies that focus on the Wadden Sea. This work investigates students’ word associations with the two stimulus words “national park” and “UNESCO World Heritage Site”. The survey was conducted among students living directly at the Wadden Sea and among students from the inland. The analysis of the identified associations (n = 8345) was carried out within the framework of a quantitative content analysis to be able to present and discuss the results on a group level. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. Overall, results showed that the students made subject-related associations as well as a large number of associations to both stimulus words that could be judged as non-subject-related. In some cases, a connection with the region of residence could be found, but this was not generally the case. Even students’ immediate residential proximity to the Wadden Sea is no guarantee that they have knowledge of the two considered protection terms.

Download Full-text