Editor's Den

Raghul Patteri

Editor

Growing up in southern India in the 80’s, there was no escaping the fascination for elephants being ingrained in the mind forever.

The 1982 Asian games was a bold step by India in its march towards the modern age. Along with the games, its mascot Asiad Appu continues to live on in the memories of all who were around at the time. When the fledgling country decided to put its best foot forward, the mascot of the event had to be an elephant –the cute Appu who is immortalized in memories and history.

This fascination for elephants is not just rampant in India, but throughout the Indian sub-continent and south-east Asia where the Asian elephants have a presence. Then why has the Asian elephant numbers plummeted to half in about 3 elephant generations? In this edition of PT Aware –let Dr. Peter Hudson’s compelling narrative take you through the conservation issues and threats faced by these giants of the land.

For elephants, being the largest land mammal and being mega herbivores is not easy. Their biology demands regular supplies of enormous amounts of food which must be procured by foraging through large tracts of habitat. And this requirement for Extensive habitat is a major cause of their downfall, with habitats being depleted and fragmented, driving them to raid crops for sustenance. This creates direct confrontation with humans leaving causalities on both sides. Hence, elephant conservation in Asia is not just a conservation issue, but also a political and socio-economic issue. Even from an evolutionary perspective, the wellbeing of the Asian elephant population is of importance as they are the only surviving member of the genus Elephas

Follow PT Aware for interesting stories on different species from around the world. We are committed to bringing you the best from the worlds of science and photography -the latest scientific perspective on biology and conservation issues, illustrated with breathtaking images by gifted photographers. We thank the wonderful photographers for their elephant images which adorn this edition.

Our next edition will focus on the Grey Crowned Crane, and we await your wonderful photographs of these colorful birds. Selected photographs will be published in the next edition.

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