Behavior of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in a land-use mosaic: conservation implications for human-elephant coexistence in the Anamalai hills, India

Abstract

Understanding behavior of elephants in human-dominated landscapes can facilitate creation of management tools for conflict resolution and help foster human-elephant coexistence. We studied behavior of Asian elephants (Elephas Maximus) in the Valparai plateau, a 220 km² landscape matrix of rainforest fragments, tea, coffee, and Eucalyptus plantations, and in relation to humans in the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats of India. We employed scan sampling method for data collection. Feeding by elephants was lowest in open canopy habitat of tea, and it gradually increased in canopy covered plantations of coffee and Eucalyptus and in densely covered natural vegetation. Vigilance behavior of elephants was lowest in forest fragments and riverine vegetation as they could avoid encountering humans. This behavior peaked in tea plantations due to intense human activity there. Elephants maintained closer inter-individual distances in tea and this distance gradually increased in canopy habitats of coffee, Eucalyptus and natural vegetation. Predictor variables such as human presence and proximity to elephants resulted in reduced feeding and increased agitation in elephants while distance of settlements to elephants did not influence behavior of elephants. We found that fewer than 10 people at a threshold distance of more than 30 m had minimum impact on feeding, resting, and movement and decreased vigilant behavior in elephants. We, therefore, suggest that protection and non-conversion of canopy habitats and maintaining minimum threshold distance of humans from elephants would foster normal activities of elephants and help promote human-elephant coexistence in such landscapes.