Title
The Status and Conservation of Asian Elephants in the Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, Cambodia
Author(s)
Edward Pollard, Lori Eggert, Cheur Chanvibol and Simon Hedges
Abstract
The Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area (SBCA) is a globally important area for biodiversity
conservation located in eastern Cambodia. Established in 2002 and managed by the Forestry
Administration it is the site of a long-term conservation program of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Cambodia Program. The vision of the area is “a well-managed forest landscape that supports increasing wildlife populations and improving livelihoods for the people who currently live there”. This is to be achieved by a combination of protected areas management, engaging local stakeholders and programs to stabilise land-use. The results of this study form the first robust defensible estimate of elephant population size for Cambodia, and only the second such estimate for the Lower Mekong region. The SBCA elephant population was found to be larger than expected and is probably part of a metapopulation with elephants moving between the SBCA and other areas of elephant habitat in Mondulkiri and possibly beyond. The SBCA elephant population is therefore of regional importance particularly because it is not yet isolated (in contrast to many other Southeast Asian elephant populations) and because extensive areas of elephant habitat remain in Mondulkiri suggesting that with effective protection the province’s elephant populations could increase significantly. There are few other places with such potential in Southeast Asia. The results have shown that the new techniques of fecal DNA based capture–recapture surveys are feasible and informative for the low-density elephant populations typical of Cambodia and elsewhere in Asia as well as in Africa.
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