NR, Anoop and PK, Muneer and M, Madhavan and Hathwar, Anikethan BS and T, Ganesh (2025) Multi-source photographic evidence to assess corridor use, crop-raiding behaviour and body injuries in Asian elephants. Current Science, 128 (3). pp. 262-268.
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Abstract
The use of multi-sourced photographs, such as those from social media, camera traps, and field surveys, for individual identification of male Asian elephants to study their corridor use, crop-raiding behaviour, occurrence of musth, ranging and external body injuries in the Thirunelli-Kudrakote elephant corridor in India’s Western Ghats is investigated in the present study. A total of 330 images and videos were analysed over 11 years (January 2014 to March 2024), leading to the identification of 27 male elephants from the corridor. Eleven individuals were observed across multiple years, demonstrating their fidelity to the area. Ten elephants were observed engaging in crop-raiding, with four consistently raiding crops within the corridor. The study also assessed the home range of six individuals in the corridor and adjacent landscapes based on individual identification. Overall, the study shows that identifying individual elephants across different locations and times provides valuable data and is a practical, cost-effective method for investigating a wide range of questions concerning the ecology and behaviour of Asian elephants. The findings underscore the potential of citizen science initiatives to enhance elephant research across elephant-range countries.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | Copyright of this article belongs to the authors |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Asian elephant, corridor use, human-inflicted injuries, landscape connectivity, multi-source photos. |
Subjects: | A ATREE Publications > G Journal Papers |
Divisions: | Academy for Conservation Science and Sustainable Studies > MSc Students Publications SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation > Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning |
Depositing User: | ATREE Bangalore |
Date Deposited: | 12 Feb 2025 09:49 |
Last Modified: | 12 Feb 2025 09:49 |
URI: | http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/548 |