Elephant baby media kit - Oregon Zoo

Conservation in Range Countries
The Oregon Zoo provides support for international
programs to help Asian elephants survive in
the wild. Through the International Elephant
Foundation (IEF), the zoo funds projects to stop
poaching, conserve roaming habitat, and reduce the
conflicts between humans and elephants that pose the
greatest threat to Asian elephant populations.
Endangered in the wild
Asian elephants are considered highly endangered in
their range countries, threatened by habitat loss and
conflict with humans. It is estimated that only 40,000 to
50,000 remain in fragmented populations from India to
Borneo.
Once abundant throughout Southeast Asia, these
elephants are now found only in small pockets of
remaining wild habitat widely dispersed across 13
countries (see map).
Poaching of elephants for the ivory in their tusks
remains a grave problem for elephant conservation,
despite a 1989 treaty banning international ivory trade.
But the most serious threat to the remaining wild
populations comes from continued habitat loss due to
increasing human population pressures, agricultural
land conversion, replacement of forests by palm-oil
plantations, and large-scale commercial logging and
deforestation.
Illegal encroachment and forest degradation have
intensified the conflict between rural people and
elephants, sometimes even in protected areas. Many of
the elephants’ roaming pathways are now fragmented,
breaking the once wide-ranging elephant population
into smaller, more isolated groups and threatening their
survival.
Supporting survival
Through IEF and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,
the Oregon Zoo supports a broad range of elephant
conservation efforts. In 2012 alone, the zoo is
supporting projects to:
• Innovate solutions to human-elephant
coexistence issues. In Sri Lanka, we’re introducing
palmyra palm tree barriers as a sustainable, ecofriendly
long-term tool for deterring crop-raiding
elephants.
• Conduct research to safeguard elephant health.
We’re collaborating with the National Zoo to identify
the causes of EEHV, the deadliest viral disease affecting
Asian elephants both in zoos and in the wild. We’re
also supporting research into treatments such as the
promising antiviral drug glancovir.
• Empower local communities to monitor and
protect their neighboring elephants. In Myanmar,
we’re training Chin villagers to survey elephants and
patrol for poachers. And in Sumatra, we’re employing
once-neglected captive elephants in direct field based
wildlife conservation.
• Bring awareness about elephant coexistence
to local schools. We’re working with the youngest
generation of South Indians and Sri Lankans to raise
awareness about safety around elephants and how to
coexist in harmony.
Asian elephant range map courtesy of IUCN Red List, iucnredlist.org
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