Social Life of Captive Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: Implications for Elephant Welfare

Asian elephants in the wild live in complex social societies; in captivity, however, management often occurs in solitary conditions, especially at the temples and private places of India. To investigate the effect of social isolation, this study assessed the social group sizes and the presence of stereotypies among 140 captive Asian elephants managed in 3 captive systems (private, temple, and forest department) in Tamil Nadu, India, between 2003 and 2005. The majority of the facilities in the private (82%) and temple (95%) systems held a single elephant without opportunity for social interaction. The forest department managed the elephants in significantly larger groups than the private and temple systems. Among the 3 systems, the proportion of elephants with stereotypies was the highest in temple (49%) followed by private system (26%) and the forest department facility (6%); this correlates with the social isolation trend observed in the 3 systems and suggests a possible link between social isolation and abnormal elephant behavior separate from other environmental factors. The results of this study indicate it would be of greater benefit to elephant well being to keep the patchily distributed solitary temple and private elephants who are socially compatible and free from contagious diseases in small social groups at ocommon elephant houseso for socialization.

'South-South' Remittance - Poverty reduction nexus. The Case of 'Hadiya' immigrants in South Africa, as Agents of 'Constituence development' in Ethiopia, and the policy implications of their 'remittance instrument'

This thesis explores the link between South-South remittance and development. It attempts to establish improved understanding about the role of immigrants as agents of constituency growth and development. By doing so, it illuminates the dark corners of the policy implications that the unconventional development agency of immigrants might have for countries in the Organization ft Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The thesis problematises the existence of state-centric international cooperation as providing the recipe for failed Aid in the face of global poverty menace. In the last half a century, the relative shi' of focus to non-state actors brought about the proliferation of NGOs. That, intrun, helped improve international access to crisis situations; however, their long-term remedial impacts on poverty and development have been contested. Major misgivings for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are, on one hand, low level goal-bound expenditures and lack of independence from influence of the state, on the other. Therefore, the thesis enterprises to empirically verify its fundamental question whether remitting immigrants constitute an alternative development agency to the traditional players: the State and NGOs. Its main arguments are: due to state's failures in bringing sustainable development in many countries of the South, the future of poverty reduction and development also rests in immigrants' remittances. Nonetheless, in the last decade, remittance security-nexus dominated its discourse. Because of that remittance was viewed as something requiring global regime and restrictions. These temptations to tightly regulate remittance flows carry the danger of overlooking its trans-boundary nature and its strong link with livelihood of the poor. Therefore, to avoid unintended consequences of interventions, there need to be clear policy that bases itself on a discursive knowledge on the issues of North-South and South-South remittances The study involved both literature based and empirical research. It employed Discourse Analysis (C as main method for the former and snow-balling as its approach for the latter. For the first part the thesis constructed three conceptual models, these are: metrological model, police model and ecological model on remittance development-nexus. Through this modeling, the thesis achieved better deconstruction on the concepts remittance, immigrants and development agency. The protagonists of each model, the values and interests they represent, and their main arguments along various lines of dichotomies have been discussed. For instance, the main treats of meteorological model include: it sees remittance as transitional economic variable which require constant speculations and global management; it acts as meteorological station for following up or predicting the level, direction, flow and movement of global remittance. It focuses on official lines and considers the state as legitimate recipient of advic and positive consequence of remittance. On the other hand, police model views remittance as beir at best, development neutral or as an illicit activity requiring global regulations and tight control. Both immigrants and remittance viewed as subversive to establishments. It gives primacy to state stable agent of development and a partner for international cooperation. The anti-thesis to the police model is supplied by ecological model, which this thesis is a part. Ecological model on remittance and immigrants argues that, tight global regulations alone cannot be a panacea for possible abuse of informal remittance system. Ecological model, not only links remittance to poverty reduction, the main trust of development, but also considers the development agency of immigrants as critical factor for 21st century north-south development intervention. It sees immigrants as development conscious and their remittance instrument as most stable flow of finance to the developing countries. Besides, it sees remittance as effective poverty solutions than Foreign Direct Investment and international AID. This thesis focuses on the significance of South-South remittance and investigates the South Africa - Ethiopia remittance corridor, as case study; and empirically verifies the role of Ethiopian (Kembata and Hadiya) immigrants in South Africa as agents of local development back home. The study involved techniques of interview, group discussions, observations and investigative study. It also looked into the determinants of their migration to South Africa, and their remittance to Ethiopia. The theoretical models in the first part of the thesis have been operationalised throughout the empirical part to verify if the Kembata and Hadiya immigrants played the crucial role in their household poverty and local development in comparison with the Ethiopian state and the NGOs involved in the system. As evidenced by the research the thesis has made three distinct contributions to the discourse of remittance development-nexus. Fist, it systematized the debate about linkages between remittance, immigrants, development agency and policy of international cooperation by creating three conceptual models (school of thoughts); second, it singled out remitting immigrants as new agents of development in the South; third, it deconstructed concept of remittance and established South¬South remittance as additional sphere of academic investigation. In addition to the above contributions, the thesis finds that Kembata and Hadiya immigrants have engaged in various developmental activities in their locality than usually anticipated. Hence, it concludes that Ethiopian immigrants constitute an alternative development agency to the state and other non-state actors in their country, and the lesson can be applied to poverty reduction strategies in most developing countries.

Stable carbon isotope ratios in Asian elephant collagen: implications for dietary studies

Stable carbon isotope ratios in bone collagen have been used in a variety of dietary studies in modern and fossil animals, including humans. Inherent in the stable isotope technique is the assumption that the isotopic signature is a reflection of the diet and is persistent in collagen because this is a relatively inert protein. Carbon isotope analyses of bones from a southern Indian population of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), a long-lived mammal that alternates seasonally between a predominantly C3 (browse) and C4 (grass) plant diet, showed two patterns that have important implications for dietary interpretation based on isotopic studies. Relative to the quantity of the two plant types consumed on average, the ?13C signal in collagen indicated that more carbon was incorporated from C3 plants, possibly due to their higher protein contribution. There was a much greater variance in ?13C values of collagen in sub-adult (range -10.5� to-22.7�, variance=14.51) compared to adult animals (range -16.0� to -20.3�, variance=1.85) pointing to high collagen turnover rates and non-persistent isotopic signatures in younger, growing animals. It thus seems important to correct for any significant relative differences in nutritive value of food types and also consider the age of an animal before drawing definite conclusions about its diet from isotope ratios.

Anthropogenic aerosol fraction over Afro-Asian regions inferred using Kalpana-I and MISR data

Mineral dust constitutes the single largest contributor of natural aerosols over continents. The first step towards separating natural aerosol radiative impact from its anthropogenic counterparts over continents is to gather information on dust aerosols. The infrared (IR) radiance (10.5-12.5 mu m) acquired from the Kalpana-I satellite (similar to 8-km resolution) was used to retrieve regional characteristics of dust aerosols over the Afro-Asian region during the winter of 2004, coinciding with a national aerosol campaign. Here, we used aerosol-induced IR radiance depression as an index of dust load. The regional distribution of dust over various arid and semi-arid regions of India and adjacent continents has been estimated, and these data in conjunction with regional maps of column aerosol optical depth (AOD) are used to infer anthropogenic aerosol fraction. Surprisingly, even over desert locations in India and Saudi Arabia, the anthropogenic fraction was relatively high (similar to 0.3 to 0.4) and the regionally averaged anthropogenic fraction over India was 0.62 +/- 0.06.

Population genetic structure and conservation of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across India

This study examines the population genetic structure of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across India, which harbours over half the world's population of this endangered species. Mitochondrial DNA control region sequences and allele frequencies at six nuclear DNA microsatellite markers obtained from the dung of free-ranging elephants reveal low mtDNA and typical microsatellite diversity. Both known divergent clades of mtDNA haplotypes in the Asian elephant are present in India, with southern and central India exhibiting exclusively the β clade of Fernando et al. (2000), northern India exhibiting exclusively the α clade and northeastern India exhibiting both, but predominantly the α clade. A nested clade analysis revealed isolation by distance as the principal mechanism responsible for the observed haplotype distributions within the α and β clades. Analyses of molecular variance and pairwise population FST tests based on both mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA suggest that northern-northeastern India, central India, Nilgiris (in southern India) and Anamalai-Periyar (in southern India) are four demographically autonomous population units and should be managed separately. In addition, evidence for female philopatry, male-mediated gene flow and two possible historical biogeographical barriers is described.

The Asian elephants Elephas maximus of Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam: status and conservation of a vanishing population

This study updates the status and conservation of the Endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam. Line transect indirect surveys, block surveys for elephant signs, village surveys of elephant-human conflict incidents, guard-post surveys for records of sightings, and surveys of elephant food plants were undertaken during the dry and wet seasons of 2001. A minimum of 11 elephants and a maximum of 15-17 elephants was estimated for c. 500 km2 of the Park and its vicinity. The elephants are largely confined to the southern boundary of the Park and make extensive use of the adjoining La Nga State Forest Enterprises. During the dry season the elephants depend on at least 26 species of wild and cultivated plants, chiefly the fruits of cashew. Most of the villages surveyed reported some elephant-human conflict. Two adult male elephants seem to cover a large area to raid crops, whereas the family groups restrict themselves to a few villages; overall, the conflict is not serious. Since 2001 there have been no reports of any deaths or births of elephants in the Park. We make recommendations for habitat protection and management, increasing the viability of the small population, reducing elephant-human conflicts, and improving the chances of survival of the declining elephants of this Park. The Government has now approved an Action Plan for Urgent Conservation Areas in Vietnam that calls for the establishment of three elephant conservation areas in the country, including Cat Tien National Park.

DNA analysis indicates that Asian elephants are native to Borneo and are therefore a high priority for conservation

The origin of Borneo's elephants is controversial. Two competing hypotheses argue that they are either indigenous, tracing back to the Pleistocene, or were introduced, descending from elephants imported in the 16th-18th centuries. Taxonomically, they have either been classified as a unique subspecies or placed under the Indian or Sumatran subspecies. If shown to be a unique indigenous population, this would extend the natural species range of the Asian elephant by 1300 km, and therefore Borneo elephants would have much greater conservation importance than if they were a feral population. We compared DNA of Borneo elephants to that of elephants from across the range of the Asian elephant, using a fragment of mitochondrial DNA, including part of the hypervariable d-loop, and five autosomal microsatellite loci. We find that Borneo's elephants are genetically distinct, with molecular divergence indicative of a Pleistocene colonisation of Borneo and subsequent isolation. We reject the hypothesis that Borneo's elephants were introduced. The genetic divergence of Borneo elephants warrants their recognition as a separate evolutionary significant unit. Thus, interbreeding Borneo elephants with those from other populations would be contraindicated in ex situ conservation, and their genetic distinctiveness makes them one of the highest priority populations for Asian elephant conservation.

Sustainable biomass production for energy in selected Asian countries

This paper presents a synthesis of assessment of sustainable biomass production potential in six Asian countries-China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and is based on the detailed studies carried out in these countries under the Asian Regional Research Programme in Energy, Environment and Climate (ARRPEEC). National level studies were undertaken to estimate land availability for biomass production, identify and evaluate the biomass production options in terms of yield per hectare and financial viability, estimate sustainable biomass production for energy, and estimate the energy potential of biomass production in the six Asian countries. Sustainable biomass production from plantation is estimated to be in the range of 182.5-210.5, 62-310, 0.4-1.7, 3.7-20.4, 2.0-9.9 and 11.6-106.6 Mt yr(-1) for China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, respectively. The maximum annual electricity generation potential, using advanced technologies, from the sustainable biomass production is estimated to be about 27, 114, 4.5, 79, 254 and 195 percentage of the total electricity generation in year 2000 in China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, respectively. Investment cost for bioenergy production varies from US$381 to 1842 ha(-1) in the countries considered in this study; investment cost for production of biomass varies from US$5.1 to 23 t(-1). (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of estrus cyclicity in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) by measurement of fecal progesterone metabolite 5 alpha-P-3OH, using a non-invasive assay

Reproductive management of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is important for its conservation. To monitor its estrous cyclicity, we earlier used an indirect ELISA to show that levels of fecal progesterone (P(4))-metabolite (allopregnanolone: 5 alpha-P-3OH) in semi-captive females sampled randomly positively correlated with serum P(4) levels [12]. In this longitudinal study (51 weeks), we measured levels of fecal 5 alpha-P-3OH and serum P(4) in seven semi-captive female elephants. Females exhibited three types of hormonal profiles. Four females showed cyclical patterns of fecal 5 alpha-P-3OH and serum P(4) typical of normal estrous cycles, two showed acyclic pattern while one showed high values indicative of a pregnant animal. Values for anestrous or follicular phases were <= 0.3 mu g g(-1), (5 alpha-P-3OH) and <= 0.3 ng mL(-1) (P(4)); for luteal phase 0.32-11.09 mu g g(-1) (5 alpha-P-3OH) and 0.32-1.48 ng mL(-1) (P(4)); for pregnancy 1.41-7.38 mu g g(-1) (5 alpha-P-3OH) and 0.39-1.6 ng mL(-1) (R(4)). A positive correlation (t = 8.8, p < 0.01, n = 321) between levels of fecal 5 alpha-P-3OH and serum P4 was observed. A random sample of 30 free-ranging female elephants showed fecal 5 alpha-P-3OH values of 0.06-23.4 mu g g(-1), indicating them to be in different stages of estrous cyclicity. This study is the first to assess the reproductive phases of female Asian elephants based on the correlative-patterns of both the fecal 5 alpha-P-3OH and serum P(4) values over multiple estrous cycles. This has a potential application in the reproductive management and conservation of Asian elephants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monsoon Regimes and Processes in CCSM4. Part I: The Asian-Australian Monsoon

The simulation characteristics of the Asian-Australian monsoon are documented for the Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4). This is the first part of a two part series examining monsoon regimes in the global tropics in the CCSM4. Comparisons are made to an Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) simulation of the atmospheric component in CCSM4 Community Atmosphere Model, version 4, (CAM4)] to deduce differences in the monsoon simulations run with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and with ocean-atmosphere coupling. These simulations are also compared to a previous version of the model (CCSM3) to evaluate progress. In general, monsoon rainfall is too heavy in the uncoupled AMIP run with CAM4, and monsoon rainfall amounts are generally better simulated with ocean coupling in CCSM4. Most aspects of the Asian-Australian monsoon simulations are improved in CCSM4 compared to CCSM3. There is a reduction of the systematic error of rainfall over the tropical Indian Ocean for the South Asian monsoon, and well-simulated connections between SSTs in the Bay of Bengal and regional South Asian monsoon precipitation. The pattern of rainfall in the Australian monsoon is closer to observations in part because of contributions from the improvements of the Indonesian Throughflow and diapycnal diffusion in CCSM4. Intraseasonal variability of the Asian-Australian monsoon is much improved in CCSM4 compared to CCSM3 both in terms of eastward and northward propagation characteristics, though it is still somewhat weaker than observed. An improved simulation of El Nino in CCSM4 contributes to more realistic connections between the Asian-Australian monsoon and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), though there is considerable decadal and century time scale variability of the strength of the monsoon-ENSO connection.

Phylogeny of the Asian Eutropis (Squamata: Scincidae) reveals an `into India' endemic Indian radiation

Recent generic rearrangement of the circumtropical distributed skink genus `Mabuya' has raised a lot of debate. According to this molecular phylogeny based rearrangement, the tropical Asian members of this genus have been assigned to Eutropis. However, in these studies the Asian members of `Mabuya' were largely sampled from Southeast (SE) Asia with very few species from Indian subcontinent. To test the validity of this assignment and to determine the evolutionary origin of Indian members of this group we sequenced one nuclear and two mitochondrial genes from most of the species from the Indian subregion. The nuclear and mitochondrial trees generated from these sequences confirmed the monophyly of the tropical Asian Eutropis. Furthermore, in the tree based on the combined mitochondrial and nuclear dataset an endemic Indian radiation was revealed that was nested within a larger Asian clade. Results of dispersal-vicariance analysis and molecular dating suggested an initial dispersal of Eutropis from SE Asia into India around 5.5-17 million years ago, giving rise to the extant members of the endemic Indian radiation. This initial dispersal was followed by two back dispersals from India into SE Asia. We also discuss the relationships within the endemic Indian radiation and its taxonomic implications. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dung as a potential medium for inter-sexual chemical signaling in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

Chemical signaling is a prominent mode of male-female communication among elephants, especially during their sexually active periods. Studies on the Asian elephant in zoos have shown the significance of a urinary pheromone (Z7-12:Ac) in conveying the reproductive status of a female toward the opposite sex. We investigated the additional possibility of an inter-sexual chemical signal being conveyed through dung. Sixteen semi-captive adult male elephants were presented with dung samples of three female elephants in different reproductive phases. Each male was tested in 3 separate trials, within an interval of 1-3 days. The trials followed a double-blind pattern as the male and female elephants used in the trials were strangers, and the observer was not aware of the reproductive status of females during the period of bioassays. Males responded preferentially (P < 0.005), in terms of higher frequency of sniff, check and place behavior toward the dung of females close to pre-ovulatory period (follicular-phase) as compared to those in post-ovulatory period (luteal-phase). The response toward the follicular phase samples declined over repeated trials though was still significantly higher than the corresponding response toward the non-ovulatory phase in each of the trials performed. This is the first study to show that male Asian elephants were able to distinguish the reproductive phase of the female by possibly detecting a pre-ovulatory pheromone released in dung. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Serodiagnosis of Tuberculosis in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: A Latent Class Analysis

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a causative agent of chronic tuberculosis disease, is widespread among some animal species too. There is paucity of information on the distribution, prevalence and true disease status of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The aim of this study was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of serological tests to diagnose M. tuberculosis infection in captive elephants in southern India while simultaneously estimating sero-prevalence. Methodology/Principal Findings: Health assessment of 600 elephants was carried out and their sera screened with a commercially available rapid serum test. Trunk wash culture of select rapid serum test positive animals yielded no animal positive for M. tuberculosis isolation. Under Indian field conditions where the true disease status is unknown, we used a latent class model to estimate the diagnostic characteristics of an existing (rapid serum test) and new (four in-house ELISA) tests. One hundred and seventy nine sera were randomly selected for screening in the five tests. Diagnostic sensitivities of the four ELISAs were 91.3-97.6% (95% Credible Interval (CI): 74.8-99.9) and diagnostic specificity were 89.6-98.5% (95% CI: 79.4-99.9) based on the model we assumed. We estimate that 53.6% (95% CI: 44.6-62.8) of the samples tested were free from infection with M. tuberculosis and 15.9% (97.5% CI: 9.8 - to 24.0) tested positive on all five tests. Conclusions/Significance: Our results provide evidence for high prevalence of asymptomatic M. tuberculosis infection in Asian elephants in a captive Indian setting. Further validation of these tests would be important in formulating area-specific effective surveillance and control measures.