February 13, 2011: Sumatra

Our latest update from Sumatra is a testimony to the scope of happenings one encounters when working for and with Asian elephants. 

Collaboration and learning are keywords in our campaign to help both captive and wild Asian elephants. In the past couple of months, Christopher’s group hosted Dr. Satya P. G. Bhalla, who is a veterinarian from Corbett Tiger Reserve.  Dr. Bhalla came to volunteer and guest lecture to the veterinary faculty in Banda Aceh about conservation medicine and veterinary needs in his national park.  Dr. Sonja Luz, a wildlife veterinarian from Singapore, who works on many conservation projects in south Asia and Africa, was also a guest lecturer addressing conservation medicine, reptile husbandry and medical care.

Facilitating the exchange of information and knowledge is an important part of improving our care of not only Asian elephants but all wildlife, and we certainly appreciate their extra effort in this direction.

Unfortunately, not all AES news is as positive and encouraging. Several weeks ago, a morning began with the call that's never wanted. Edi, one of the elephants at ECC Holiday Resort, was found dead. Christopher rushed to perform a necropsy, but the cause of death was not clearly revealed, so now we wait for the results from the lab. Prompt necropsies help us learn and expand our knowledge for ever-improving care. None the less, it is never easy to lose an elephant, especially when it is sudden and unexpected. We share in their loss.

In the beginning of December an emergency call came in from Aceh, as one of the male elephants in musth had attacked and seriously injured its mahout. The elephant was out of control, attacking people and cars on the main road. A standing sedation had to be administered from a distance using a blow pipe. The elephant's long tusks were trimmed for safety and he was secured with a 20 ft chain to a tree with easy access to food and water. Until he is no longer in musth, the elephant will still be restrained in the forest and looked after by the mahouts. His mahouts will move his location daily by luring him with bananas so that the chain can be removed and he is then relocated to an area with fresh fodder. Were it not for the vets and their ability to help bring this musth bull under control, the outcome would surely be grim! We so appreciate these people who make it possible for such animals to be taken care of for their own safety as well as the people in the area.

 

 

Now some very happy news! In November, Olive gave birth to her first calf, a very tiny (for an elephant!) but agile and healthy little girl.

 

 

 

 

On December 4th, Yuni at Tangkahan gave birth to a male calf weighing about 70 kg. It is Yuni’s first calf and she is taking very good care of her baby and both mother and calf are in good health. Now the two mothers often stay together, giving the calves the chance to play and socialize. These are the moments that lift our hearts and reaffirm why we care so very much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it's not always just about elephants. During Christopher's last visit to Aceh, he examined a tiger, which had been captured in central Aceh after killing some cattle and two villagers in the past three months. The tiger was sedated for a general health examination and found to be in good health and, according to his teeth, was estimated to be 6 to 7 years old. At the time of Christopher's writing, the tiger was still in quarantine while options for release in a remote forest area are considered and evaluated. This is an example of people working primarily with one species and being in the position to help others.

Thanks to Christopher and the Vesswic veterinarians, and here's to a very good 2011 for our Sumatran friends, both two and four-legged!

 

 

October 30, 2010: Sumatra

We received an update on Harris, the bull elephant who was rescued and cared for by Vesswic, with financial support from the family of our AES president. Eighteen months after his rescue, he is a very healthy and strong elephant. Harris most recently joined the forest patrols and he is now in the Bukit Kabar reserve, which is a protected area. He is patrolling with 5 females from Seblat, so he has his own social group again. He still has the same mahout, Saparuddin, which is so important for building a trusting and healthy relationship.

To read more about forest patrols, see Sumatra, CRU Elephants on our Projects page.

October 13, 2010: Sumatra 

The USFWS (United States Fish & Wildlife Service) will be providing funding to keep the mahouts and captive elephants from the ECC Way Kambas in the field for forest patrols and HEC. In light of this news, our Board voted to use funds we thought might be needed for that work to instead purchase two portable scales for Vesswic's use in caring for elephants in the Way Kambas ECC and other camps in Sumatra.

Knowing the weight of an elephant is vital for medicating, establishing proper diets, following the progression of pregnancies, and as an alert to possible illness.  A portable scale allows elephants to step up on a base, stand still for just a few seconds then walk off. Such a scale provides accuracy and efficiency for safe and effective dosing, and we are thrilled to provide this tool to the CRU program.

 

 

September 3, 2010 : India

We are pleased to announce our support for a research project in India. The goals of this project are to identify emerging diseases and their prevalence in the largest global population of Asian elephants, and to determine the impact of these diseases for long-term conservation. These goals will be met through (a) assessing health-related aspects of the free-ranging elephant population (for example, stress, morbidity, and mortality), (b) evaluating the presence of infectious and non-infectious diseases and their dynamics in the elephant population, and (c) identifying risk factors and possible solutions to mitigate impact.

In addition to AES financial contribution, this was our first grant submission to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Asian Elephant Conservation Fund. AES helped write the grant application and will serve as the grant administrators for this project. The USFWS and AES have provided funding for project support staff, transportation, research station costs, lab analysis fees, and medical supplies.

See India, Emerging Diseases on our Projects page to read more, and please consider a donation to support other important projects.

August 10, 2010: Sumatra 

We are delighted to share with you Christopher Stremme's report of the 4th annual Mahout Workshop, an event that does so much to improve mahout skills and ability to better care for their elephants, while making the working relationship between mahout and elephant both safer and less stressful.

"The 4th Mahout Workshop organized by FOKMAS (mahout association) and BKSDA (conservation agency) north Sumatra was held recently at the ECC Holiday Resort in North Sumatra. Besides IEF, Vesswic also provided financial and technical support for the realization of the workshop. The Elephant Managers Association (EMA), with Asian Elephant Support participating via directors' individual contributions, provided a supply of hoof knives for all of the elephant facilities.

The workshop went very well. It was attended by 71 participants (the largest attendance to date) coming from all ECCs and CRUs/elephant patrol units, several zoos, safari parks etc. from Java, Sumatra and Bali. Most of the participants were mahouts of course, but also some vets and managers from the private facilities were amongst the participants.

The main topics were:

1. EMA (Elephant Managers Association of America) presentation about its history, development and activities, followed by question/answer session about elephant management in western zoos and management and handling problems in our places in Sumatra.
2. Presentations from ECCs and CRUs utilizing mahouts and elephant for conservation activities (Aceh, Bengkulu, Way Kambas, Riau, Tangkahan) followed by discussions about the different experiences from the different locations and further options to utilize the captive elephants in conservation related efforts in the future.


Field navigation training given by CRU Tangkahan team leader Edi

3. Training about field navigation using maps and GPS conducted by the CRU Tangkahan team leader Edi. This is the CRU which also supports the work in HEC (human/elephant conflict) management. This presentation was divided in two parts: theoretical background and hands on practice in three locations of the ECC area.
4. Presentation and practical demonstration about needs and techniques to train elephants for medical procedures conducted by Vesswic. Although this subject was presented during previous workshops, it was repeated at the request of FOKMAS as many participants did not attend previous workshops and to also highlight its importance in general.


Demonstration on training elephants for medical procedures, conducted by Vessic

5. Divided in different working groups the participants discussed problems and needed improvements for captive elephant management in different management systems of the ECCs, CRUs, zoos and safari parks. Finally, a list of subjects which is hoped to be addressed by PHKA was prepared and will officially be handed over to PHKA (National Agency for Forest Protection and Nature Conservation under the Ministry of Forestry in Jakarta) by FOKMAS.

Before and after the workshop all participants filled in a questionnaire to gather their opinions about the quality and value of the workshop, the outcome of this questionnaire still needs to be evaluated and translated. A few pictures are attached.

Best wishes,
Christopher"

This workshop highlights the collaboration of all those who care for elephants in range countries. The work they do requires financial support, so we encourage you to join us in our effort to help. We are still raising funds to purchase portable scales. Portable scales provide accuracy and efficiency for safe and effective dosing of medication, and we would like to provide this tool to the CRU program in Sumatra (Sumatra, CRU Elephants). The cost per scale, including delivery to Sumatra is $3100, and our goal is to provide two scales. We hope you will consider making a donation toward this purchase.

We are also raising emergency funds should an elephant require rescue and extensive medical care. Please read our story of Harris and see how your support through a donation can help individuals and at the same time contribute to conservation efforts.

July 16, 2010: Sumatra 

We are delighted to share a recent update from Dr. Christopher Stremme, the wildlife veterinarian working with Vesswic in Sumatra:

"Hello from Sumatra,

We are just back from Aceh yesterday and after the problems with some terrorist groups in some of the remote areas in central and west Aceh have calmed down and the security situation has improved, we were able and allowed again to visit all CRU's for regular health checks and treatments of the CRU elephants. The trip lasted for a week, during which we visited the Aceh elephant training centre and its satellite in north east Aceh and three CRUs in central and west Ache, conducted health checks and treatments (dewormings, wound treatments, etc.) for a total of 38 elephants.

Like always since the past year we were accompanied and assisted by Dr. Arman Sayuti from the veterinary faculty of the Banda Aceh University. Since he has started to volunteer with our program on a regular basis, he significantly has developed his experience and knowledge about elephant health care and management and, hopefully, on the long run can further help to develop better expertise and education about veterinary needs for conservation and welfare of endangered wildlife in Aceh.

Best wishes from Sumatra,
Christopher"

We think this update highlights some amazing aspects of the CRU program in Sumatra:
• Efficiency in treatment means many elephants are provided care in a reasonable period of time.
• Not only the mahouts are developing their skills, but also Dr. Arman Sayuti, who will, in turn, be
  able to teach others.
• Vesswic and Dr. Stremme make the very most of every dollar and are very appreciative of our support.

We are running a campaign to raise funds for portable scales for this project. An accurate weight is needed to determine a safe and effective dosage for many medications. Vets and mahouts work together to measure an elephant in order to estimate its weight for the proper dose of deworming medication. However, weights arrived at by the measurement formula vary among age groups of elephants so this method is not always accurate, and it is very time consuming to measure each elephant. A portable scale allows elephants to step up on a base, stand still for just a few seconds then walk off. Such a scale provides accuracy and efficiency for safe and effective dosing, and we would like to provide this tool to the CRU program. The cost per scale, including delivery to Sumatra is $3100, and our goal is to provide two scales. We hope you will consider making a donation toward this purchase. Should you wish to give $3100 for one scale, we will have a plaque made to put on the Pelicase to acknowledge your donation!

See Sumatra, CRU Elephants on our Projects page to read more, and please consider a donation to support this important work.

April 23, 2010: Sumatra

We are pleased to announce that we recently funded the Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation (Vesswic) $4,500 for their Elephant Health Care Program, which provides care to elephants in the Conservation Response Unit (CRU) in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra. The CRU integrates wild and captive elephants in a synergetic elephant conservation strategy. This program is improving the care of captive elephants and their mahouts (elephant caregivers) and is helping the wild elephant population via forest patrols, census gathering, and human-elephant conflict mitigation efforts. These activities are important for sustainable implementation of wild and captive elephant conservation and welfare needs in Way Kambas. The program is fully operational, but is in need of funds to continue their operations and widen the scope of their medical care.

See Sumatra, CRU Elephants on our Projects page to read more, and please consider a donation to support this important work.

Please read about Christopher Stremme, DVM, project manager for the Elephant Health Care Program (EHCP) of the Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation (Vesswic).