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

BACKGROUND

The populations of wild Asian elephants () 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.

RESULTS

One hundred fourteen elephants were identified. We identified 30 adult males, 43 adult females, 14 sub-adult males, nine sub-adult females, 11 juveniles, and seven calves. The age structure ratio based on adult femaleswas 0.7:1:0.3:0.2:0.3:0.2, and the ratio of reproductive ability between adult females, juveniles, and calves was 1:0.2:0.1. A suitable elephant habitat was determined to be 1,288.9 km using Area Under the Curve (AUC). An AUC = 0.061 indicated good performance. Our model classified habitat preferences associated with elevation, forests, salt licks, human activity, and slope.

CONCLUSIONS

According to our probability map this sanctuary can provide a suitable habitat for elephants. Our results indicate that effective management practices can protect wild Asian elephants in the region and reduce conflict between humans and elephants.