![]() Then, between 20, the researchers interviewed three residents per grid cell. To find out where elephants occur in Sri Lanka, Prithiviraj Fernando, an elephant expert at Sri Lanka’s Centre for Conservation and Research, and his colleagues divided the country into a grid with nearly 2,750 cells, each 25 square kilometers (9.7 square miles) in area (the cell size was based on the smallest known home range of Sri Lankan elephants). Previous distribution estimates either covered smaller areas within host countries, or were based on “guesswork and conjecture,” the researchers say. ![]() ![]() This isn’t just Sri Lanka’s first such map, the researchers say in a new study published in Oryx - it’s also the first evidence-based distribution map of Asian elephants for any of the 13 range countries. But it turns out, there’s very little evidence-based information on their distribution across countries in Asia. Researchers in Sri Lanka, however, are filling in some of this information gap.īy conducting interview surveys across the island nation over four years, researchers have now produced a countrywide, data-based distribution map of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) for the country. Instead, they recommend a “human–elephant coexistence model,” one that aims to reduce conflict by protecting villages and cultivations with barriers.įor a large, charismatic and endangered species such as the Asian elephant, you might think scientists would have figured out where they hang out and when.So trying to confine the animals to the limits of protected areas is not a sound conservation strategy, the researchers say. The majority of the elephants occur outside protected areas, sharing space with humans, the study found.The study found that elephants currently occur in 60 percent of Sri Lanka, a figure that’s higher than previous estimates based on expert opinions, and also higher than that for any other range state. ![]() ![]() This is also the first evidence-based distribution map of Asian elephants for any of the 13 range countries, the researchers say. Researchers have produced the first ever data-based distribution map of Asian elephants for Sri Lanka. ![]()
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