conflitto elefanti- popolazioni umane

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona@libero.it>]

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  Asian Elephant losing out in turf war with humans

  Gland, Switzerland - Asian elephants are being forced out of their 
forest homes
  by logging, agricultural clearance and ill-planned development 
schemes. Mass
  movements of people and resettlement programmes have led to fatal 
clashes
  between humans and elephants, according to a species status report 
released
  today by WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature. 

  The report by Elizabeth Kemf and Charles Santiapillai, Asian elephants 
in the
  wild, says that animals are being poisoned by plantation workers, shot 
by angry
  farmers, and killed for their meat, hide and tusks. Train and road 
collisions
  have also resulted in accidental deaths of elephants. In 1997, Sri 
Lanka lost
  126 wild elephants to human/animal conflict. 

   "Of the 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants that cling to survival, most 
of these
  are being squeezed into increasingly smaller woodland areas", said 
Elizabeth
  Kemf, WWF's Species Conservation Information Manager. "The elephant, 
which is a
  loveable, if not revered animal for the world at large, has become a 
menace for
  many living in its territory," she added. The present distribution of 
the Asian
  elephant covers only a fraction of its former extensive range. The 
entire
  population, which survives in only 13 countries today, is about 10 per 
cent of
  the total Africa population.
    
  As clearance of forests for settlement and agriculture escalates, 
traditional
  elephant migration routes are disrupted, leading to violent clashes 
when hungry
  elephants raid crops. As a result, hundreds of people are killed by 
elephants in
  Asia every year, with up to 300 deaths in India alone. Unless urgent 
action is
  taken to help solve the conflict between humans and elephants, WWF 
believes
  there will be further drops in the numbers of elephants across Asia.

  Poaching for the ivory that is only found in male Asian elephants is a 
major
  threat for the species, severely affecting the sex ratio in some 
areas, notably
  southern India, Cambodia and Vietnam. Two years ago, poachers in 
Cambodia had
  slaughtered so many bull elephants for their tusks that the country 
was thinking
  of importing bulls from neighbouring Laos. Some animals have even been 
"worked
  to death" in logging camps. 

  Through WWF supported projects in India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, 
China,
  Indonesia, Bhutan, Nepal, and Malaysia, the threats facing elephants 
are being
  assessed and solutions are being sought. At the same time, WWF is 
calling on
  governments to take steps to ensure that national and transnational 
companies
  exploiting natural resources in elephant range comply with national 
legislation
  regarding biodiversity protection, and are accountable for 
implementing sound
  forest-use practices. WWF would also like to see stronger enforcement 
of
  regulations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered 
Species of
  Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banning trade in Asian elephant products. 
Strict
  anti poaching measures should also be established throughout the 
elephant's
  range, along with the monitoring of vulnerable tuskers. 

  "Ensuring the long term survival of the Asian elephant will cost 
money. WWF
  believes that richer governments have a duty to give technical and 
financial aid
  to tackle some of these urgent problems. We need to ensure that there 
are
  sufficient well-trained personnel to deal with the sociological, 
economic and
  ecological problems which threaten the survival of a heritage that 
belongs not
  only to Asia, but all the world's people," Elizabeth Kemf added.

  For further information:

  · Elizabeth Kemf, Species Conservation Information Manager, WWF 
International.
  Tel: +41 22 364 9424; E-mail: ekemf@wwfint.org

  · Robert Kihara, Press Officer, WWF International. Tel: +41 22 364 
9553; E-mail:
  rkihara@wwfint.org

  About the authors

  Elizabeth Kemf is Species Conservation Information Manager for WWF and 
a human
  geographer. Since 1988 she has worked regularly with ethnic minority 
communities
  and elephant owners in Vietnam's Dak Lak Province.

  Dr Charles Santiapillai is Professor of Zoology at the University of 
Peradeniya,
  Sri Lanka and Executive Officer of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant 
Specialist Group.

  Notes to Editors:

  The Asian Elephant - Elephas maximus - originated in Africa some 55 
million
  years ago and herds roamed the vast area from modern Iraq and Syria to 
theYellow
  River in China. Today, it is only found from India to Vietnam, with a 
tiny
  besieged population in the extreme southwest of China's Yunnan 
Province. 

  WWF has developed an Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS), 
whose aim
  is to provide a coordinated and strategic approach to WWF's work on 
elephants
  and rhinos in Asia. Under the AREAS umbrella, a major project 
portfolio is being
  developed, and funding has already been secured for a range of 
activities during
  the period 2000-2002. AREAS takes an integrated approach to 
conservation needs
  and has identified 13 major landscape units for priority action, eight 
of which
  are of particular importance for Asian elephants.

  Robert Kihara
  Press Officer,
  WWF International
  Avenue du Mont-Blanc
  1196 - Gland, Switzerland
  Tel: +41 22 364 95 53
  Fax: +41 22 364 83 07
  email: rkihara@wwfint.org

Alessandro Gimona
agimona@libero.it