The vanishing trail of Sri Lanka’s iconic tuskers calls for urgent action
Minneriya, SRI LANKA — With a single tusk that made him stand out, the majestic bull elephant Unicorn was a true king among the wild herds of Minneriya, a biodiversity…
human-elephant conflict News
Asian elephants fall victim to poor development policies in Bangladesh
Despite planning and accomplishing some wildlife conservation actions over the years, Bangladesh has yet to achieve success in protecting its elephants (Elephas maximus indicus). Instead, the country has lately witnessed…
As Sri Lanka’s rail tracks continue to claim elephant lives, experts suggest solutions
COLOMBO — More than a decade ago, Thushari, a young female elephant, born wild and free, would roam the landscapes of Galgamuwa in northwestern Sri Lanka every day with her…
As elephant conflict shifts, Nepal’s border village offers clues for coexistence
SUNDAR HARAICHA, Nepal — A bundle of firewood lay abandoned on the path, a silent witness to tragedy. Nearby, a red shawl, once wrapped around Chandra Kumari Limbu, remained. The…
In Nepal’s Chitwan, elephant’s shooting, death raises eyebrows
KATHMANDU — On the morning of Feb. 5, a soldier deployed at the Chitwan National Park shot a wild elephant (Elephas maximus) after it allegedly attacked an elephant patrol attempting…
How a Nepali border village learned to live with migratory wild elephants
BAHUNDANGI, Nepal – The heavy thud against the glass window sent Krishna Bahadur Rasaili’s heart racing. Stepping outside, he saw his granary lay in ruins, and an elephant was feasting…
‘Like you, I fear the demise of the elephants’
On June 13, 1959, the Waata hunter Galogalo Kafonde surrendered himself to colonial Kenya’s “Field Force,” Africa’s first militarized antipoaching unit. For centuries, the ethnic Waata had hunted elephants. Killing…
In Sri Lanka, election day is time for firecrackers — to ward off elephants
COLOMBO — Over the past two years, Daham Piyasena has lived through momentous times: the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka’s history, which led to unprecedented public protests that forced…
As human-elephant conflicts in Sumatra rise, so does risk from electric fences
CENTRAL ACEH, Indonesia — Mak Besan dropped a clutch of cayenne peppers picked from a neighbor’s land in Karang Ampar village into a white canvas bag, her head protected from…
‘Explorer elephants’ in transfrontier conservation area offer solution to tree damage
Elephants are known to be “ecosystem engineers,” altering habitats to suit their own needs, but this sometimes comes at a cost to other species. Hedging, or stem snapping, is the…
Death of Umi sparks concern over electric threat to Sumatran elephants
TEBO, Indonesia — Electrified fences set up around farms are an emerging threat to the critically endangered Sumatran elephant, conservationists told Mongabay Indonesia following a series of deaths this year…
Fear and hardship for the last community inside Chitwan, Nepal’s tiger central
MADI, Nepal — Surya Prasad Paudel, a lean 42-year-old with an aquiline nose, sunken eyes and gray facial hair, stands waveringly in front of his mud house with the sunlight…
Exploring the science of Asian elephants: Interview with Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel
KATHMANDU — Asian elephants traverse vast distances, ingesting things they encounter as they retrace the ancient paths their ancestors followed. In doing so, they alter landscapes, create habitats, and earn…
Analysis of largest elephant surveys ever shows stable population, but disturbing trends
Ten years ago, says Mike Chase, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area was one fluid contiguous elephant habitat. “An elephant could be in Botswana in the morning, midday in Zimbabwe…
Nepal’s human-wildlife conflict relief system hits roadblock with new guidelines
KATHMANDU — New rules that were supposed to make it easier for Nepalis affected by human-wildlife conflict to receive relief and compensation have created a bottleneck in the process instead.…
Count, connect, conserve: Southern Africa elephant survey points the way (commentary)
In the more than 10 years since Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe signed a 2011 treaty to create the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area – the world’s largest…
Iconic tusker’s plight shows challenges in managing Sri Lanka’s wild elephants
ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka — “He is a king without a crown.” This is how wildlife lovers refer to the majestic elephant Agbo, named after a king from an ancient kingdom…
Nepal’s Madhesh province lacks in biodiversity research & conservation
KATHMANDU — Whenever someone talks to Dev Narayan Mandal about biodiversity and conservation in his native Madhesh province in Nepal, he remembers an incident that took place a few years…
How wild elephants solve puzzles may help humans resolve wildlife conflicts
Opening doors may not seem that hard, but when you have a trunk instead of hands, things can get complicated. Researchers tested the problem-solving skills of wild elephants for the…
Video: Rice as a peace offering in India’s human-elephant conflict capital
The state of Assam in northeastern India has one of the highest incidences of human-elephant conflict in the country, with more than 70 people and 80 elephants dying every year…
Balancing elephant conservation and community needs: Q&A with award-winning ranger Fetiya Ousman
HARAR, Ethiopia — In the hilly terrain of Babile Elephant Sanctuary in Ethiopia, Fetiya Ousman, a female wildlife ranger, is leading her team on a patrol. Dressed in a jungle-green…
A forest gave Cambodia’s captive elephants a new life. Now they’re paying it back
PU TROM, Cambodia — The quiet life that Sambo leads today seems as distant from her past plight as the searing-hot streets she once trod as a tourist attraction in…
Elephant encounters rattle farmers in Indonesia’s Jambi province
SAROLANGUN, Indonesia — On a night in early July, Solikin was awake chasing elephants past sunrise. The animals had entered the community’s oil palm fields and raised hell, mashing hundreds…
As human-wildlife conflict simmers, Nepal revises compensation program
KATHMANDU — New rules make it easier for Nepalis affected by human-wildlife conflict to receive compensation, in a move the government says is necessary but still insufficient to address the…
Bangladesh captive elephant death by train highlights need for conservation
On May 17, an elephant was killed after a train hit it in the capital Dhaka’s Uttara area. The incident took place in the Court Bari area while two captive…
In north Bangladesh, human-elephant conflicts signal need for greater protection
For the last couple of decades, Bangladesh has been taking on several projects with an aim to protect the wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), which is critically endangered in…
One elephant a day: Sri Lanka wildlife conflict deepens as death toll rises
COLOMBO — On average one elephant has died each day in Sri Lanka in the first three months of this year, with nearly half of those deaths due to human…
Mating urge adds new pressure to human-elephant conflict in Nepal
CHITWAN, Nepal — Wild male elephants in search of females to mate with are homing in on captive domestic elephants, in the process posing a threat to human settlements and…
Sri Lanka seeks lasting solution as human-elephant conflict takes record toll
COLOMBO — Each day, as the sun set over the horizon, Thettuwage Tennakoon and his wife would carefully climb up into their treehouse in the middle of their rice field.…
In Nepal, officials defend detusking to reduce human-elephant conflict
KATHMANDU — On the afternoon of Oct. 28, a wild male elephant attacked and killed a woman herding her sheep at a pasture in the town of Amlekhgunj, in the…
If there’s an elephant in the room, that’s because it’s not in a protected area
Over the span of 10 years, a team of researchers have been following 102 Asian elephants in Malaysia, collecting more than 600,000 GPS fixes in the process. When they analyzed…
In Vietnam, farmers show a willingness to work with the elephant in the room
Solving human-wildlife conflict is a complex issue and a pressing concern for a wide variety of endangered species, none more so than the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). People living around…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Peruvian fishers sue for additional compensation after big December oil spill
- Smuggling networks exploit migrant debt to fuel tiger poaching in Malaysia, study shows
- Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia: Study
- With climate change, cryosphere melt scales up as a threat to planetary health
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
