Population and distribution of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The populations of wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have increased recently after a period of worldwide decline in protected areas. It is important to understand the dynamics and distribution of the remaining populations to ensure their conservation and prevent human-elephant conflicts.

Methods

We monitored the population distribution of elephants between 2016 and 2019 in the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. We set one hundred forty-nine camera trap locations; cameras recorded 38,834 photos over 6,896 trap nights. Elephants were captured in 4,319 photographs. The maximum entropy modeling software MaxEntwas used to identify elephants' habitat preferences within 49 of the 149 total camera trap locations according to five environmental factors.

SUBMITTER: Htet NNP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8325913 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature