MIGRATION
Asian elephants migrate each year and their distance traveled depends on the condition of their habitat. They typically inhabit the south, east, and south eastern areas of Asia in tropical climates. Through the years human activity has increased and has minimized the amount of habitats available for the elephants. Humans have expanded settlementation, plantations, farming, etc and have invaded their homes. All they are left with are small areas of the forests with not much roaming space. There are times that human settlement has enclosed the elephants to small habitats that disable them from home ranging. Oftentimes their typical migration routes will be disturbed by human activity. These factors can become catastrophic to the asian elephant population because they could be more inclined to inbreeding, diseases, and natural disasters. The risk factors listed can be detrimental to the asian elephant population.
Asia was able to discover the elephant's movement patterns and habitat usage of an male elephant through a satellite tracking device in India. Scientists also utilize a VHF telemetry to observe the patterns of 10 elephants in Sri Lanka. They saw that the typical home range of the elephants range from 100 km^2 to 300 km^2 minimum without fragmentation on the forest landscape. These home ranges can vary depending on the season, human activity and water availability.
The figure below represents the gathered data of the estimated home ranges for the Asian elephant using the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP).
Asia was able to discover the elephant's movement patterns and habitat usage of an male elephant through a satellite tracking device in India. Scientists also utilize a VHF telemetry to observe the patterns of 10 elephants in Sri Lanka. They saw that the typical home range of the elephants range from 100 km^2 to 300 km^2 minimum without fragmentation on the forest landscape. These home ranges can vary depending on the season, human activity and water availability.
The figure below represents the gathered data of the estimated home ranges for the Asian elephant using the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP).