Understanding Elephant Movement Paths in a Fragmented Corridor Using Animal Energetics

Ankur Awadhiya; Abhijit Awadhiya; Ajay Srivastava; Bilal Habib

doi:10.36808/if/2023/v149i10/169834

Understanding Elephant Movement Paths in a Fragmented Corridor Using Animal Energetics

Authors

Ankur Awadhiya Madhya Pradesh Forest Department
Abhijit Awadhiya Indian Revenue Service, Mumbai 400703
Ajay Srivastava Himachal Pradesh Forest Department
Bilal Habib Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2023/v149i10/169834

Keywords:

Conflict, Corridor Connectivity, Efficacy, Manas Trans-Boundary Conservation Area, Movement Ecology.

Abstract

In this paper, the authors present an energetics analysis of the movement paths of elephants in the Manas Transboundary Conservation area. With degrading habitat and corridor connectivity rapidly being lost due to deforestation and encroachment, elephants are being pushed to explore alternative migration routes, often leading them to human-dominated landscapes resulting in an increasing conflict situation. Authors explored the possibility of the forests of Bhutan being utilised as one alternative route by the elephant herds using computation of energy requirements vis-a-vis the extant corridor routes. We found that the alternative pathways are as much as five times more energy intensive than the existing routes, with per kilometer energy requirements being around 2.5 times the current per kilometer requirements. These calculations demonstrate that the alternative routes explored are unsuitable for the migration of elephants and that restoration of corridor connectivity is urgently required to avoid situations of conflict or population decimation of elephants.

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