Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:49:56.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Crop-raiding elephants and conservation implications at Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Philip J. Nyhus ,
Ronald Tilson  and
Sumianto
Ronald Tilson
Affiliation:
Sumatran Tiger Project and Minnesota Zoo, 13000 Zoo Blvd., Apple Valley, MN 55124, USA.
Sumianto
Affiliation:
Sumatran Tiger Project and Minnesota Zoo, 13000 Zoo Blvd., Apple Valley, MN 55124, USA.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Crop raiding by wild elephants is one of the most significant sources of park–people conflict in Sumatra, Indonesia. The distribution, impact and conservation implications of elephant crop-raiding in 13 villages that border Way Kambas National Park in southern Sumatra were studied for 18 months. The data are based on rapid village and field assessments, data logs maintained by village observers and a quantitative household survey. Elephants raided crops year-round at a mean rate of 0.53 elephants per day for the entire study area. The frequency of crop raiding was related to vegetation type along the park border, the size and presence of rivers, and the distance to the park's Elephant Training Center (ETC), which houses about 150 captive elephants. Wild elephants damaged at least 450,000 sq m of corn, rice, cassava, beans and other annual crops, and close to 900 coconut, banana and other perennial trees in the area surveyed. Elephants killed or injured 24 people over a 12-year period in villages near the park. Villagers try to reduce elephant damage by guarding fields, digging trenches between the park and their fields, and modifying their cropping patterns. Elephant–human conflict decreases the probability of support from local people for conservation efforts. We suggest methods to improve the effectiveness of existing elephant trenches, the need to consider electric fences, external support to affected villages, and compensation to villagers for any damage caused.

Keywords

Crop raidingelephanthuman-wildlife conflictSumatraWay Kambas National Park
Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 2000 , pp. 262 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2000

References

Blouch, R.A. & Haryanto, (1984) Elephants in Southern Sumatra. Report 3. World Wildlife Fund, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Blouch, R.A. & Simbolon, K. (1985) Elephants in Northern Sumatra. Report 9. World Wildlife Fund, Bogor.Google Scholar
Hill, C.M. (1998) Conflicting attitudes towards elephants around the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda. Environmental Conservation, 25, 244–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krishnamurthy, V. (1991) Recommendations for Improving the Management of Captive Elephants in Way Kambas National Park, Lampung Utara [sic]—Indonesia. WWF Project P3849: Sumatra, Way Kambas N.P. WWF Indonesia.Google Scholar
Lair, R. (1997) Gone Astray: The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand.Google Scholar
Marks, S.A. (1994) Local hunters and wildlife surveys: a design to enhance participation. African journal of Ecology, 32, 233–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKay, G.M. (1973) Behavior and Ecology of the Asiatic Elephant in Southeastern Ceylon, Smithsonian Contribution to Zoology 125. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeely, J.A. (1978) Management of elephants in Southeast Asia. In Wildlife Management in Southeast Asia, vol. 8 (eds McNeely, J., Rabor, D.S. and Sumardja, E.A.), pp. 219–225. Biotrop, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Ministry of Forestry (1995) Way Kambas National Park Management Plan: 1994–2019. Ministry of Forestry, Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Mukhtar, A.S. & Sumarna, Y. (1994) Pattern of feed and daily range behavior of elephant in Way Kambas Nature Reserve, Lampung Province. Buletin Penelitian Hutan, 558, 1–13.Google Scholar
Nash, S.V. & Nash, A.D. (1986) The elephants of Padang-Sugihan, Sumatra. Tigerpaper, 13, 28–29.Google Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L. (1998) Predicting patterns of crop damage by wildlife around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conservation Biology, 12, 156–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newmark, W.D., Manyanza, D.N., Gamassa, D.G.M. & Sariko, H.I. (1994) The conflict between wildlife and local people living adjacent to protected areas in Tanzania: human density as a predictor. Conservation Biology, 8, 249–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhus, P.J. (1999) Elephants, tigers, and transmigrant: conflict and conservation at Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhus, P., Sumianto, & Tilson, R. (1999) The tiger human dimension in southeast Sumatra, Indonesia. In Riding the Tiger: Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes (eds Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. and Jackson, P.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
PHPA (1994) Strategi konservasi harimau Sumatera (Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Conservation Strategy). Direktorat Jenderal Perlindungan Hutan dan Pelestarian Alam, Departemen Kehutanan, Republik Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Salter, R.E. (1986) Evaluation and monitoring of Asian elephant habitat: problems and some potential solutions. Tigerpaper, 13, 5–9.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Jackson, P. (eds) (1990) The Asian Elephant: An Action Plan for its Conservation. IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Suprahman, H. (1985) Habitat management in Way Kambas Game Reserve with reference to the elephant population (WWF/IUCN Project 3133—No. 2). Tigerpaper, 12, 20–27.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Suprahman, H. (1986) The Ecology of the Elephant (Elephas maximus L.) in the Way Kambas Game Reserve, Sumatra. WWF/TUCN Final Report 3133. WWF/IUCN, Bogor.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Widodo, R. (1989) Management of Elephant in Captivity in Riau, Sumatra. Report prepared for PHPA and WWF 3769. World Wide Fund for Nature, Bogor, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Widodo, R. (1993a) Reconciling elephant conservation with economic development in Sumatra. Gajah, 10, 11–18.Google Scholar
Santiapillai, C. & Widodo, R. (1993b) Why do elephants raid crops in Sumatra. Gajah, 11, 55–58.Google Scholar
Seidensticker, J. (1984) Managing Elephant Depredations in Agricultural and Forestry Projects. The World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Senanayake, S. & Kusumawardhani, L. (1986) Crop Depredation by Wild Elephants around the Way Kambas Game Reserve and Mitigative Measures. US AID Training Mission; The School of Environmental Management, Bogor; Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Indonesia; and Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka, Jakarta.Google Scholar
SPSS (1999) SPSS. SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Studsrød, J.E. & Wegge, P. (1995) Park-people relationships: the case of damage caused by park animals around the Royal Bardia National Park, Nepal. Environmental Conservation, 22, 133–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stüwe, M., Agdul, J.B., Nor, B.M. & Wemmer, C.M. (1998) Tracking the movements of translocated elephants in Malaysia using satellite telemetry. Oryx, 32, 68–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sukumar, R. (1989) The Asian Elephant: Ecology and Management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Thouless, C.R. & Sakwa, J. (1995) Shocking elephants: fences and crop raiders in Laikipia district, Kenya. Biological Conservation, 72, 99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilson, R., Soemarna, K., Widodo, R., Sukumar, R., Seal, U., Traylor-Holzer, K. & Santiapillai, C. (eds) (1994) Asian Elephant in Sumatra: Population and Habitat Viability Analysis Report. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Apple Valley, MN.Google Scholar
Widjaja, T.M., Iswari, A. & Syafii, H. (1986) Management strategy for the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in Way Kambas Game Reserve. In The Conservation and Management of Endangered Plants and Animals (eds Santiapillai, C. and Ashby, K.). Bogor Indonesia.Google Scholar