MEME Updates n6 (September 2012)

1

Because we can only manage what we measure — working towards an evidence-‐based conserva3on of Malaysian elephants.

HORMONE MANIA! — PhD student, Ee Phin, brings us to the land less ventured of elephant ‘stress’ sampling.

EN SALMAN SAABAN — new interview with one of the elephant movers and shakers in Peninsular Malaysia.

SNEAK PEEK BEYOND THE CAMERA — New study site, New insights all the way from Reuben and the corridor team.

Updates Issue 6 Jul - Sept 2012

MEMEManagement & Ecology of Malaysian Elephants

Right before writing these lines I find in the news that Hong Kong authorities have made yet another record seizure of almost four tons of ivory coming from Kenya and Tanzania. Using the approximation of 9.65 kg of ivory per elephant, we can estimate the number of killed elephants in ~ 415 individuals. The estimated market value of this ivory is $ 3.4 m. Let me repeat this — hundreds of keystone animals, with unique and irreplaceable roles in their ecosystems, have been slaughtered less money than the monthly wages of Real Madrid’s footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. I know it’s old news... but still difficult to digest for me.

The surge in ivory trade over the past few years is much of a puzzle but a recent article published by Bryan Christy in National Geography gives some cues on the drivers. Christy unweaves a skein of complex relationships between warlords, merchants, religious figures, and corrupt institutions involved in the poaching, trade, processing, and final sale of elephant ivory traveling from its African origin to its final destination in Asian markets. The article features a famous and vocal catholic leader from Cebu, Philippines, who encourages and facilitates the use of ivory for ‘religious purposes’; an eccentric and well-known buddhist monk from Phayuha Khiri, Thailand, who generates handsome sums of money by selling ‘blessed’ ivory amulets; and ivory carving factories in Beiijng, where businessmen and art collectors can purchase expensive ivory items to trade for favors instead of cash.

All this trade is happening rather publicly and, in spite of legal loopholes, stopping it is largely a matter of political will and enforcement capacity. Weeks after the publication of Christy’s article, Monsignor Garcia (the Filipino priest) was probed in relationship with ivory smuggling. It is yet to be seen whether Monsignor is finally prosecuted for his crimes but, in any case, this is the way to go.

From here we make a call to our leaders — religious, political, enforcement authorities — to follow a zero-tolerance policy with wildlife trade crimes and, particularly, with the ivory trade that is driving the rapid decline of African elephant populations for the sake of religious amulets and collector figurines.

In Kuala Lumpur, 21 Oct 2012 Ahimsa Campos-ArceizMEME’s Principal InvestigatorSchool of GeographyUniversity of Nottingham Malaysia Campus

Zero-tolerance — a call to our leaders

2MEME Updates Issue 6 July - Sept 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20016650


http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text




After last issue's introduction of Conservation Drones, MEME is proud to introduce you our very first Conservation Drone specialist, Lim Wee Siong. A very humble and quite man that would deny he knows much about this field but with his background on information systems (MIS), he might be just a little modest in our eyes. Below Wee Siong shares some of his experience testing the drones since he joined in early August.

There have been ups and downs with the simulation of drone flights, and a number of failures indeed. Take offs, nose dives, drone losses, etc... are all part and parcel of the learning curve. As stated on the glider’s packaging box, 'This is not a toy..', indeed, it shows you the difficulty of fully manipulating this, seemingly, feeble gadget.

For the past month and a half, Wee Siong has been training himself to work with the computer program for flight simulations and flight dynamics, and practicing coordination of the eye and joy-stick to familiarize with maneuvering the drone. His maiden flight was commenced with a banged up plane and a load of experienced hobbyist helping each other out; of course it went through and it earned him some smiles.

However, its not the end of the story as the challenge has just begun. The following trials were meant to master the skills of flying straight with a good take off (i.e. throwing the plane correctly); landing without wrecking too much of the plane (as there's no landing strip for the wheel-less device); assuring minor details are not neglected (pre-flight checks, tightened parts etc); and trying not to lose the drone to the endless horizon; all of which are a daily obstacle for our specialist.

Time ago, Wee Siong worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer at Silicone Valley. He decided to make a career change not because he no longer loved his job, but because he wanted to do something different with his lifetime. 'Life as a consultant is more money-orientated and somehow i wanted to try something different to use my time not solely based on income.’ He stumbled upon the Hornbill watcher position with Malaysian Nature Society at Belum Temengor and has since embraced a career in wildlife conservation, quite a different life to that back in Northern California.

To him, it is still very much unknown how much contribution he can make to the conservation world but he is keen to do his best and improve wherever he can. Next stage, autopilot and drone camera!

We welcome him onto the team!

Ning

MEME’s Drone Pilot

One quarter later, Elephant movers & shakers is back bringing you a man responsible of a large part of elephant conservation in Peninsular Malaysia - En Salman Saaban. Elephant movers & shakers interviews bring us an insight into the context of real-life wildlife management and the experience and points of view of the people who do the work. En Salman is actually one of MEME’s core members and it was an honor to having the opportunity to catch up with him. This is what he had to share with us:

Elephant movers & shakers: En. Salman Saaban


Q: Tell us a liFle bit about yourself. S: I joined the Department of Wildlife and Na6onal Parks (PERHILITAN) in December 1996. My first posi6on was a Research Officer in the Elephant Research Unit. At that 6me, the Department has collabora6on with Smithsonian Ins6tu6on, USA to conduct elephant satellite tracking projects. Besides that project, I was also doing other elephant related work such as collec6ng and analyzing the human-‐elephant conflict (HEC) data throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Some6me I joined the Elephant Capturing Unit, which based in Na6onal Elephant Conserva6on Center (NECC), Kuala Gandah to catch and translocate the conflict elephants. AZer pursuing my M. Sc in 2004, I was posi6oned as the person-‐in-‐charged for Human-‐Wildlife Conflict (HWC) Management Sec6on un6l 2007. Later, from 2008 to 2009, I was transferred to Paya Indah Wetlands (PIW) before being reassigned back into my previous posi6on, un6l now.

My sec6on’s tasks are mainly to plan, to coordinate the mi6ga6on program and to conduct the wildlife conflict issues throughout Peninsular Malaysia. At the moment there are two main species that are considered as the “main actor” for HWC, i.e. long-‐tailed macaque and elephants. Fortunately, so far we’ve received a good coopera6on from our clients and stakeholders par6cularly when the ac6on taken needs their coopera6on. However, some6me the people’s fault that has put wildlife into a conflic6ng posi6on. For instance, there was a case reported that a man was aeacked by a 6ger but when further inves6ga6on was conducted, what happen was that he was trying to kill the 6ger, instead.

Q: In such a situaJon, what do you have to do?

S: In that case it was reclassified to the law enforcement case. It was learnt that the 6ger was already snared and was being cornered to be killed for unlawful purposes. So, the media’s claim men6oned about a man was aeacked by 6ger is not true.

Q: What is the current condiJon of elephant populaJon?

S: For my opinion, the elephant popula6on in Peninsular Malaysia is in stable. In terms of HEC aspect, people are aware that wildlife habitat is being disturbed and some6mes converted into small scale planta6on area. They are also aware that HEC would occur within their area because it was a part of elephants’ ranging areas previously. In fact, the HEC management is a dynamic issue that involved many stakeholders and we try to con6nuously to improve our mi6ga6ng approaches.

For example, in order to deal with HEC in the village area, we’ve erected electric fences. But, the problem lies with the agtude of some people who refuse to give good coopera6on with pugng back the spring gates when they were using it. This neglected behavior has cause elephants to go through and, later causing HEC at that village.


Q: Can you tell us a liFle about yourself before joining PERHILITAN and what was it that sparked your interest in wildlife conservaJon?

S: I graduated from Faculty of Forestry, UPM. In the course, it is compulsory for us to undertake a prac6cal training to implement what we’ve learnt in the class room. In 1992, I took my prac6cal with the Pahang PERHILITAN office. Some week during that period, I was involved with the elephant capturing program which carried out in Lepar Hilir, Pekan, Pahang. From that experience, I found that working with PERHILITAN is very challenging and interes6ng.

Q: How did that experience influence your career decision?

S: It made me realized that working with wildlife conserva6on would be more challenging and dynamic compared to the managing trees, which was not moving and just s6ll standing. When we dealing with wildlife issues, it entails a lot of dynamism element that makes it much more thought-‐provoking, especially when it’s s6ll such a freshly sprouted subject. Hence, more space for our skill and knowledge development opportuni6es will you get. I loved it for those reasons.

Q: What about your interest in research?

S: It is my hunger to know about what is the reason behind of any occurrences, for instance knowing what drives the elephants’ certain behavior, their feeding habits, their habitat u6liza6on and many more. It is all these blank answers that mo6vated me to do what I supposed to do. Wildlife research is varied subject and should be interested compared to your rou6ne office work. Not to men6on the contribu6on a research can have on people especially when you come across interna6onal workshops and conferences. The sharing of scien6fic knowledge and improving of skills are part and parcel of my drive to do research.

Q: When you went to Kaziranga NaJonal Park for the Elephant ConservaJon Group meeJng a few months back, what made the deepest impression on you from that visit?

S: What impressed me most was when I can see many Indian Rhinos doeed around in the reserve, somewhat like our cows here!! Their management strategies worked really effec6vely to deter any form of illegal ac6vi6es. They had rangers patrolling the borders of the reserve with their AK-‐47s, which do not allow any trespassing to occur, even by their local community.

Q: Impressive! And their inhabitants were fine with that?

S: Yes. They lived alongside the borders peacefully despite the 6ght watch on the other side of the park.



Q: Do you think that could work in Malaysia? S: Can be a challenge because our accepta6ons differs from that of Indian ci6zens, mainly due their cultural and beliefs. Some animals are believed a form of God to them, whereas, here in Malaysia, many people will look at wildlife as their economical commodi6es or the worst as their pest. If to incorporate what Kaziranga NP did here, it would take a long 6me and a lot of effort (from the wider public) because people’s percep6on needs to be changed before such a coexistent can happen.

Q: What is the trend of environmental awareness currently in Peninsular Malaysia?

S: I feel that it has been increasing over the years. To some extent, we got an email from the public about the wild-‐boar crossing the road and asking us to save the animal, even it was in their natural habitat. To me that is a good sign that people are more concerned about wildlife and will try to help to save wildlife in this country.

Q: What are the funcJons of NECC at Kuala Gandah?

S: Ini6ally, the center func6oned as a base for Elephant Capturing Unit. But, slowly people are start coming to have the experience with the domes6cated elephant. In the same 6me, we started to provide some basic facili6es as the wider publics needed and it con6nued to grow from there to today’s eco-‐tourism site. Nevertheless, the transloca6on program remains to be the core ac6vity of the centre.

Q: How effecJve do you think the elephant centre is doing in terms of awareness?

S: In order to answer that ques6on, we would need to commence a special study on public percep6on and their understanding. That is, where we would like to collaborate with MEME in producing a pre-‐ and post-‐percep6on study on our visitors some6me in the future. Only then can we proof awareness has increased through the elephant centre’s program. We do have the interpreta6on centre but it is oZen not the focal point or main aerac6on of visitors to come here.

Encik Salman ended our interview with some thoughts and experience from his years of working in the field: Public support is an important component to the Department’s enhancement and also not to men@on, MEME’s progress. Hopefully the Department can get more supports and contribu@ons of ideas, sugges@ons or funding to improve their services to Malaysia’s biodiversity conserva@on. Ning.


e Bintang Hijau Wildlife Corridor


In the Bintang Hijau Wildlife Corridor (see red square in map inset below), Reuben Clements and his team are inves6ga6ng the extent to which 10 highway viaducts (white circles) are u6lized by mammals and finding out possible factors affec6ng their effec6veness. This is the same design implemented by his team in the Kenyir Wildlife Corridor. This wildlife corridor is located in the State of Perak and is bisected by the Gerik-‐Kupang highway (red line). Being adjacent to the Belum Temengor Forest Reserve park, the corridor is regarded as an important asset for the species survival, to determine the usage of viaducts by wildlife.

So far, the team has deployed 72 camera traps at the dry columns of 10 viaducts and they have been recording animal and human ac6vity for 9,144 camera-‐trap nights. In the surrounding forest reserves (see map), they have also deployed 62 cameras that have been recording for 5,565 trap nights. Unfortunately, with the camera traps unguarded most of the 6me, the

study has already lost 4 units to vandalism, stolen, burnt, and destroyed by deforesta6on. So far the team has lodged police reports but there has been no leads.

To date, at least 21 mammal spec ies have been recorded.

Asian elephants have been recorded in the forest as well as under the viaduct, but we have not recorded signs of 6gers, leopards, dhole or gaur. We managed however to capture on camera a newborn clouded leopard cub passing by in the forest with its mother, a promising sight!

Reuben, Gerik.


Time is essen6al when measuring stress hormones in elephant dung. Fecal hormone metabolites degrade naturally due to microbial ac6vity and natural environmental changes. What this means is, wildlife researchers in MEME will have to track wild Asian elephants in the forest, follow their trails as close as possible and collect fresh dung samples.

Gegng fresh samples is part of the equa6on. What’s next is to preserve the samples un6l you are ready to analyze them in a laboratory. The usual procedure is to freeze the samples to -‐20°C, but this is not prac6cal in the field where there is no electricity and you can only carry limited equipment in your backpack.

As part of her study, Ee Phin is working closely with Dr. Lisa Yon from University of Nogngham (UK) to test and adapt a field hormone extrac6on method developed by Ka6e Edwards and Dr. Sue Walker in Chester Zoo, for fieldwork in Malaysian rainforest. Valida6on is an important part of the experiment for hormone analysis and this is just one of the puzzles that need to be solved.

Beside hormone and DNA, what is interes6ng about elephant dung is that it also harbors gastrointes6nal parasite eggs and gut microflora from the elephant. Parasite and ciliates can reveal a lot of the elephant’s environment and there is the possibility of linking it as an indica6on of health. Dr. David Modrý and his student Bara, from the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceu6cal Sciences (VFU), Brno, Czech Republic, have generously spare a week of their 6me to train Ee

Phin and reveal the mysterious world of parasitology behind a microscope lens.

Combining parasitology and hormone studies is an interes6ng but challenging field. So liele is known about Asian elephants in the wild that every bit of knowledge we can gain is a discovery to be shared with all. It is very encouraging to find researchers from different parts of the world working together and share their vast knowledge about wildlife, big or microscopic size.

We would like to thank the following researchers for training opportuni6es for Ee Phin:

• Dr. Sue Walker, Ka6e Edwards, Rebecca Watson and the Research Center team in Chester Zoo.

• Prof. MV Dr. David Modrý and colleagues, and his student Barbora Červená (Bara) from University of Veterinary and Pharmaceu6cal Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.

Next stop, taking these trainings into actual pracJce... Stay tuned!

Diary from the Stress Zone I — a race against time!


Non-‐invasive endocrine research is becoming popular for monitoring reproduc6ve and ‘stress’ hormones for animals in cap6vity and in the wild. This research is further advanced by the development of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) techniques to quan6fy the hormones and their metabolites.

However, it is important to prove and validate that the EIA assay used is able to measure the main hormone linked to stress. In our case, it is fecal glucocor6coid metabolites found in elephant dung. Hence in August 2012, a team from the University of Nogngham (Malaysia and UK campuses), the University of Chulalongkorn, and University Putra Malaysia gathered in Ayunehaya, Thailand, to carry out an ACTH (adrenocor6cotropic hormone) challenge experiment on cap6ve Asian elephants. Despite facing an unexpected delay and challenging weather condi6ons, the team persevered and the experiment could be carried out successfully.

Four cap6ve elephants (two bulls and two cows) were chosen for the experiment. Synthe6c ACTH (a hormone) was injected into the elephants to excite the adrenal gland in the animal to start producing glucocor6coid hormones. The elephants were monitored around the clock, their dung was collected as soon as the animal defecated, and the extrac6on of the hormones was conducted on the spot. The group split into two teams, one covering the day shiZ (7am to 7pm) and the other one doing the night shiZ (7pm to 7am).

On 22nd August 2012, the fiZh day aZer the injec6on, the experiment ended and samples were dried, prepared, and couriered to the University of Nogngham (UK) for the next phase of the experiment, to test the assay in the laboratory.

The Kraal elephants & Village hosted the experiment and their management personnel gave a huge amount of support to our team throughout the experiment. Most of all, the commitment of the mahouts and care in handling the cap6ve elephants was essen6al to the success of this experiment. We wish to thank all friends in Thailand, researchers and organiza6ons who have generously helped us in this experiment.

Diary from the Stress Zone II — the ACTH challenge!

The team: Dr. Ahimsa Campos-‐Arceiz (UNMC), Dr. Lisa Yon (UNUK), Dr. Sumolya Kanchanapangka DVM Ph.D (University of Chulalongkorn), Wong Ee Phin (UNMC), Rachel Tan (UPM), Wan Nor Fitri Wan Jaafar (UPM), Chayanis Daochai a.k.a. Nis Vanarin (Chulalongkorn University), Jitwadee Khoonwongsa a.k.a.Orr (King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi) and her friend Mr.Yot.

AyuThaya Elephant Palace & Royal Kraal: Laithongrien (Sompast) Meepan, Michelle Reedy, Ewa Narkiewicz, Anne Wilkinson, Paul Hayden-‐Wells, Mahout Khun Paan and his friends. Not to menWon, a Special thanks and appreciaWon to the elephants whose fecal glucocorWcoid metabolites will contribute to research of Asian elephants in the wild.

Ee Phin


From top left, clockwise: The research team with the founder and director of Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Elephant Kraal

Village, Mr Laithongrien Meepan; A little one fooling around underneath its mother whilst bathing; Fitri working with the makeshift; There’s no such thing as ‘OT’ and lack of

electricity in the field with Ahimsa; Ee Phin organizing the makeshift field lab and Dr. Lisa Yon giving an ACTH injection to one of the

bulls, Plai Omchakawan.


Reuben Clements giving an update on the wildlife corridor study at Perhilitan’s HQ.

The Elephant Conversation Group (ECG) presents a joint symposium at the Society of

Conservation Biology conference held in

Bangalore.

The field team recover the collar of Cherang Hangus, one of the translocated

bulls.

Meet the team with additional members Wee Siong, UNMC intern Tina Patel, and PhD student Saifon Sittimongkol of Nottingam UK.

Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, PhDAssistant ProfessorSchool of GeographyUniversity of Nottingham Malaysia [email protected]

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Mek Jalong, one of our collared elephant caught in motion on one of Perhilitan’s

camera traps.

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MEME Updates n6 (September 2012)

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