China News Service, Kunming, August 11 Title: How to Solve the Worldwide Problem of "Human-Elephant Conflict"?
China News Service reporter Hu Yuanhang Han Shuainan
In recent years, due to habitat degradation, more and more wild elephants have left the forest and entered the human activity area, and the human-elephant activity space has become more and more overlapping, and the "human-elephant conflict" has become more and more intense. This is not only a challenge faced by many wild elephant distribution countries, but also a microcosm of the conflict between biodiversity conservation and economic and social development experienced by the international community. In order to solve this problem, on the occasion of World Elephant Day on August 12, China News Agency's "East and West Question" column invited Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration of China, and internationally renowned elephant experts, and Ahmsa Campos-Arceiz, researcher of the Large Mammal Diversity and Conservation Research Group of xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for dialogue.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: Last year, more than 10 wild elephants in Yunnan safely returned from the north to the south, which attracted the attention of the world, and also made more people pay attention to the problem of "human-elephant conflict". What is the reason for the "human-elephant conflict"? What are the implications?
Chen Fei: "Human-Elephant Conflict" refers to the conflict between humans and elephants. Many "human-elephant conflicts" are the result of habitat loss and fragmentation. Whether it is Asian or African elephants, "human-elephant conflict" is widespread in areas where elephants are distributed around the world, and the results are also very tragic. Over the past 100 years, african elephant populations have declined from 3 million to 5 million to 470,000 to 690,000 due to habitat loss, ivory poaching and "human-elephant conflict", and Asian elephant populations have declined from 100,000 to 40,000 to 50,000. Humans also face serious threats and losses, with more than 100 people killed or injured by elephant accidents each year in India and Sri Lanka, and more than 200 deaths from African elephant accidents in Kenya over the past seven years; Residents also suffer significant property losses, with some smallholder farmers potentially losing a year's worth of livelihoods to elephants' temporary plundering of crops, and larger farms suffering huge losses every year.
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz: In fact, as long as people and elephants live under the same sky and share the same land, regardless of the local climate, environment, and humanities, there will inevitably be "human-elephant conflicts" will inevitably occur. The essence of "human-elephant conflict" is that human-elephants are competing with each other for resources. Such conflicts have existed since ancient times, but as humans take advantage of more and more of nature's resources for their own use, human factors prevail. The loss of natural habitat has made the conflict between elephants and humans more and more direct.
Wild Asian elephants photographed on July 31, 2022, move in Kangping Town, Pu'er, Yunnan Province. Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
China News Service: At present, what measures have been taken by wild elephant distribution countries to deal with "human-elephant conflicts", and what is the effect?
Chen Fei: In recent years, the awareness of human beings to protect Asian elephants has gradually strengthened, and Asian elephants have begun to no longer fear humans, and more and more frequently go out of the reserve to eat crops. Abroad, elephants are mainly driven away from farmland and human settlements by biological, physical or chemical deterrents such as bees, peppers and tobacco, but in many cases drastic and confrontational measures have intensified their aggressiveness. In addition, other countries defend themselves by changing the way they cultivate, that is, by planting crops that elephants don't like. At the same time, the management and prevention of problem elephants is also an important means: for example, Malaysia will transfer some of the most serious elephants to other forest areas every year; Kenya's Wildlife Conservation Authority shoots 50 to 120 problem elephants a year to protect local residents and cash crops. Countries such as Nepal and Indonesia have reduced human contact with elephants by building important migration corridors. But overall, there is no better way in the world to avoid "human-elephant conflict" altogether.
Elephant monitoring tower built in Kangping Town, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz: Affected by the regional environment and the human environment, the behavior of wild elephants will be different, which makes the relationship between humans and elephants more complicated. For example, in China, there are "more people and few elephants", and the habitat of elephants in China is relatively fragmented, and the land around its habitat is mostly used by humans, which is easier to encounter with people. Malaysia is "less people and more elephants", there are large areas of land used to grow palms, elephant activities will cause some damage to palms, but the chance of encountering people is much smaller. Sri Lanka is "many people and elephants", and the probability of "human-elephant conflict" is relatively high. Although the local people are very fond of Asian elephants, when the "human-elephant conflict" intensifies, some people have to alleviate the conflict by hunting Asian elephants. Therefore, when discussing the truth of the "human-elephant conflict", it is necessary to consider the human factor, the Asian elephant factor and the environmental factor.
At present, from a global perspective, some regions have adopted a radical approach, using shooting to deal with "human-elephant conflicts"; Some areas are less radical and will take some measures to scare Asian elephants into leaving, but Asian elephants will go back after realizing that humans do not pose an actual threat to them; Some regions will take the initiative to transfer Asian elephants from the conflict zone to other regions, but usually Asian elephants will return to their original home areas; There are also some areas where electronic fences have been invented and widely used, and good results have been achieved. In general, there is no way to eradicate "human-elephant conflict", but only to reduce the conflict and reduce it to an acceptable level.
Anti-elephant guardrails installed next to houses in Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Yunnan Province. Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
China News Service: Previously, the elephant herds in the south and north of the Yunnan That attracted the eyes of the world have returned safely to the south with the joint efforts. What lessons can be learned from this case?
Chen Fei: Through the successful case of Yunnan elephants returning from north to south, we have found that increasing tolerance for elephants and taking some flexible interventions such as food lures and pulsed electric fences are effective ways to alleviate "human-elephant conflict". But this undoubtedly requires a lot of human, material and financial resources, and it is not a long-term solution. The most fundamental way to alleviate the "human-elephant conflict" is to create a more suitable habitat for elephants, in addition to the necessary conditions such as area and forest quality, it is also necessary to consider the huge food demand of elephants and the range of population activities, carry out relevant habitat transformation and construction work, and build ecological corridors for habitat connectivity. At present, China is exploring the construction of national parks to further restore the Habitat of Asian Elephants.
Aerial photo of 2,500 acres of Asian elephant food source base in Kangping Town, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. (Drone photo) China News Service reporter Li Jiaxian photo
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz: Dealing with "human-elephant conflict" is not a broad issue, but a specific one. In the process of returning from the north to the south of the Yunnan elephant herd, at least three useful experiences were gained. The first is that people's attitudes toward elephants are crucial to alleviating "human-elephant conflict." In China, both the government and the people are very active in protecting Asian elephants, which is the basis for the resolution of this sudden crisis. The second point is to take a more dynamic view of elephant conservation. Asian elephants are dynamic, and if the population grows, they will not only stay in protected areas, but will also leave. The third is the large-scale migration of elephant herds and the approaching of urban areas, which will bring about a series of people's livelihood problems, and Yunnan has achieved good exploration in compensation for accidents, early warning, and multi-departmental cooperation. All of these experiences will help to address the issue of "human-elephant conflict" in the future.
China News Service: Compared with the existing national parks in the world, what breakthroughs will be achieved in The Asian Elephant National Park planned by China this time? Can it bring about a fundamental change in cracking the "human-elephant conflict"?
Chen Fei: Compared with the existing national parks in the world, China's national parks have distinct Chinese characteristics.
First, there is a greater focus on protection. China has positioned national parks as the most important type of nature reserves, implemented the strictest, most scientific and most standardized protection management, and paid more attention to protecting the authenticity and integrity of ecosystems.
The staff of the Management and Conservation Bureau of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province demonstrated the mobile phone software of the Asian Elephant Monitoring and Early Warning System. Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
Second, more emphasis is placed on system construction. The Chinese government has the advantage of strong administrative regulation and control ability and unified exercise of collective will, and can stand on the perspective of ecological civilization construction, carry out the construction of the natural protected area system with national parks as the main body as a whole, and build an effective and long-term mechanism.
In addition, more emphasis is placed on the combination of ecological protection and community development. When the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries establish national parks, they all have large wilderness and no man's land, the population in the national parks is very small, and the community conflicts are not prominent. There are many Chinese, and some of the indigenous people in the national park gather in the form of administrative villages, more are irregularly distributed in the natural villages in the national park, and some nomadic herders have "winter nests" or temporary tents for summer pastures, showing the characteristics of "large dispersion and small concentration". In view of this characteristic, China pays more attention to the construction of communities and people's livelihood in the process of national park construction and protection, scientific planning, rational zoning, the implementation of differentiated policies and management measures, and the community residents as co-construction partners, so as to achieve the win-win goal of "ecological beauty and people's prosperity".
In addition to these characteristics, the Asian Elephant National Park that is being planned and constructed has also achieved some innovations for the protection of Asian elephants, such as retaining part of the agricultural land where Asian elephants are concentrated, establishing corresponding planting compensation mechanisms to supplement the food sources of Asian elephants, attracting elephants to return to the forest, stabilizing habitat, alleviating "human-elephant conflict", and achieving harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants.
On July 28, 2022, in Jinghong, Yunnan Province, the staff will be trampled by wild Asian elephants to step on the Asian elephant food source base sign. Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
Elephants are now entering the human realm on an unprecedented scale, challenging traditional means of animal control. How to resolve the "human-elephant conflict" is not only related to the harmonious coexistence of people and animals, but also tests the wisdom and courage of human beings. The good news is that the current treatment method is gradually changing from blockage to sparse, from single to diversified, from short-term consideration to sustainable development. Only in this way can it be suitable for both human development and wildlife development. It is believed that the construction of the Asian Elephant National Park, which has a more comprehensive conservation concept, will bring about fundamental changes to alleviate the "human-elephant conflict" in the region.
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz: The purpose of the Asian Elephant National Park was to protect the rainforest and the Asian elephant. Compared with traditional nature reserves, Asian elephant national parks will involve many human-related elements, integrate more resources, and manage more systematically. The United States created the world's first national park, but most of its area is no man's land, and human activity in the park is very small. The Asian Elephant National Park established by China will create a new model and accumulate more experience for better resolving "human-elephant conflicts" and even dealing with the relationship between man and nature. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Courtesy of respondents
Chen Fei is the director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration. His research interests include Asian elephants, their habitats and biodiversity.
Photo by Li Jiaxian, a reporter from China News Service
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, Chinese Kang Musa, is a researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Spain. He has served as co-chair of the IUCN Asian Elephant Expert Group Capacity Building Working Group, president of the Tropical Biology and Conservation Society, and president of the Asian chapter of the Conservation Biology Society, mainly engaged in the ecology and conservation of asian large animals, seed dispersal, human and wildlife conflicts, multidisciplinary interdisciplinary conservation science, and conservation capacity building.