Species Conservation Awareness

 Wonderful Talk on Species Conservation

I remember not long ago, you and I had discussion on the issues pertained to species (Elephant) behavioral ecology. I believe you might have hard time thinking on how does this kind of conversation help with conservation of elephants in your surroundings. Well, of course you have right to ask as much questions as you can and surely you will probably find your way to a true fact as conservation is concerned . I admit that terms like Daily ranging, Feeding ecology, Gestation period, Child spacing and Habitat use, may look new or irrelevant to someone from other field of studies. But there is no need of trying so hard to figure it out, be sure at the end of this paper you will be able to put aside those ambiguities. Fundamentally, reasoning is the foundation of learning and knowledge grasping. Before we strike to the point let me add more questions for what I believe you will easily assimilate the knowledge and apparently become one of the best conservers in our community. See these questions!!

1. How does daily range, Feeding ecology and habitat use relate to elephant conservation?

2. Is there any way that Gestation period and Child spacing can be linked to elephant conservation?

3. What is the community perception toward elephant conservation no matter what damages caused by elephants in our daily life?

We already know that elephants have poor digestion efficiency with relatively high throughput rate that makes them wasteful feeders. For them to survive they need large amount of food, apart from that they are large in size thus needs relative large quantity of resources particularly food (150kg@) water (40L@), and space. For that reason elephants have to cover large area in search of food and water especially in dry season. Climate change and the accelerating global warming have disturbed the water cycle causing scarcity of food resources to many protected areas of our country. In recent days elephants are frequently encountered roaming out of protected areas. Habitat loss due to anthropogenic activities as the result of expanding human populations has converted wild land to agriculture, settlements and other human development activities hence posing another big threat to the survival of elephants consequently leading into human-elephant conflicts in human dominated landscapes.

Perhaps there is surge decrease in elephant populations all over the country. Elephants are poached for ivory trophy and wonderfully enough, the local people are the one offering assistance to illegal elephant dealers. Elephants however, takes long time to nurse their newborn individuals, the time from conceiving to delivery (gestation period) is approximately two years. An individual can reproduce at the age of about 35 years and it will count to about five years for it to have another calf.  All these means that, the rate of reproduction in elephants is relatively low as compared to most of mammals in the wild thus needs effective and intensive conservation measures in hand. The progressive loss of large number of individuals in the situation that we cannot replenish back the elephants population to its original state signals and calls for urgent measures of reviving our lovable species.

Unfortunately, the community attitude and perception toward conservation is low. Above all we are the ones benefiting a lot from tourists and we are also pleased having these animals in our country. At least we have the chance to appreciate the nature and its creatures. I guess you can now realize the reason to why we should stop poaching and never encroach wild areas. By doing so, we will actively contribute to efforts toward saving wild species in our country.

Be the first to spread Anti-Poaching Campaign, be the first to Save the Nature.

Wildlife Conservation, Begins With UUUUU!!!!!!!!.

Elephants Behavioral Ecology

Feeding Ecology, Mating System, Gestation Period and Child Spacing in Elephants

Conservation of threated biological species is now a work of endeavor to most of conservationist globally. Despite the efforts taken by conservers at regional and international level, many societies of the world are still resilient and hindering conservation efforts. Were not in the position that can admittedly allow us to pose our blames to any group of people whom in one way or more are contributing in destroying our conservation efforts to secure these valuable natural resources.  For that reason the fountain of understanding must first spring in minds of people to make them support these efforts.  I believe that with these papers you may grasp inspiration or gain enthusiasm which will apparently pave a way for transformation as well as building positive attitude toward conservation of biodiversities in your compounds.

Dear friend for this paper I would like to expose you to several aspects regarding elephants behavioral ecology, these includes; feeding ecology, daily ranging, mating system, gestation period and child spacing.

Gestation period and Child spacing

Gestation period in elephants takes about two years and the child spacing or inter-birth intervals usually lasting to 4 or 5 years. Very often elephants give birth during the wet season where birth coincides with resource need. Calves are born 85 cm and weigh to about 120 kg. Mostly elephant’s give birth to one young, rarely twins also occurs. 

Daily range

The average distance covered by an animal in a day ranges from 10 to20 km, but ecologists have literary proved that elephant can also move to about (90–180 km).

Mating system

Elephants are polygynous breeders, and copulations are most frequent during the peak of the wet season. Adult males and females come together for reproduction; mostly bulls appear to associate with family groups if an oestrous cow is present. Adult males enter a state of increased testosterone known as musth.  The age in which elephant enters musth varies from 15 to 35 years. Elephant with the age less than 25years seldomly enter into musth but this become intense with age above 25. Young bulls appear to enter musth during the dry season, while older bulls go through it during the wet season. A cow in oestrus releases chemical signals (pheromones) in her urine and vaginal secretions to signal her readiness to mate. A bull will follow a potential mate and assess her condition with the flehmen response by collecting a chemical sample with his trunk and bring it to the vemeronasal. The oestrous cycle of a cow lasts 14–16 weeks with a 4–6-week follicular phase and an 8–10-week luteal phase. Elephants have two ovulatory surge. The first (or anovulatory) surge could signal to males that the female is in oestrus by changing her scent, but ovulation does not occur until the second (or ovulatory) surge. Bulls engage in a behaviour known as mate-guarding, where they follow oestrous females and defend them from other males. Most mate-guarding is done by musth males, and females actively seek to be guarded by them, particularly older ones.  Thus these bulls have more reproductive success. Musth appears to signal to females the condition of the male, as weak or injured males do not have normal musths.  During copulation, the male lays his trunk over the female's back. The penis is very mobile, being able to move independently of the pelvis. Prior to mounting, it curves forward and upward. Copulation lasts about 45 seconds and does not involve ejaculatory pause. Homosexual is frequent in both sexes, elephants can also masturbate. Fertility rates in cows decline around 45–50 years of age. 

Feeding ecology

Elephants are herbivorous and will eat leaves, twigs, fruit, bark, grass and roots. They are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. African elephants are mostly browsers while Asian elephants are mainly grazers. They can consume as much as 150 kg of food and 40 L of water in a day. Elephants tend to stay near water sources. For elephants nutrition constraints are pronounced as the dry season progresses (Okello et all.,2015)  thus increasing their home range due to scarcity of  resources, during this period (dry season)  resources may also be localized. Most often during the dry season elephants tend to concentrate their foraging activities in areas close to water ( Chamaille Jammes et al., 2007). Conceivably elephants have poor digestion efficiency with relatively high throughput rate where most digestion takes place in the capacious hind gut (Okello et all.,2015) hence known as wasteful feeders (Kerley et  al., 2008). Major feeding takes place in the morning, afternoon and night. At midday, elephants rest under trees and may doze off while standing.  . Sleeping occurs at night while the animal is lying down. Elephants average 3–4 hours of sleep per day. 

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ELEPHANT (FACTS)

ELEPHANTS (FACTS) 

Elephants are the largest living terrestrial mammal in the World; they belong to the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. There are two species of elephants worldwide, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), although some evidence suggests that African Savannah Elephants (L. africana ) and African Forest Elephants (L. cyclotis  ) are separate species .

Weight: African elephant weighs 4,000 to7, 000 kg while Asian elephant weighs 3,000 to 5,000 kg

Height: The height of African elephant varies from 3m to 4 m (10–13 ft) while that of Asian elephants stand 2–3.5 m (7–11 ft)

Size: In both cases, males are larger than females. Among African elephants, the Forest elephant is smaller than the Savannah elephant.

Vision: The animal's field of vision is compromised by the location and limited mobility of the eyes. Elephants are considered dichromats and they can see well in dim light but not in bright light.

Temperature regulation: The core body temperature averages 35.9 °C (97 °F), similar to a human. Like all mammals, an elephant can raise or lower its temperature a few degrees from the average in response to extreme environmental conditions.

Sense of smell (Olfactory): The animal's sense of smell may be four times as sensitive as that of a bloodhound.

Life span

Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild.

Communication

They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infra sound, and  seismic communication over long distances.

Skeletal system: The skeleton of the elephant is made up of 326–351 bones. The vertebrae are connected by tight joints, which limit the backbone's flexibility. African elephants have 21 pairs of ribs while Asian elephants have 19 or 20 pairs. An elephant's skull is resilient enough to withstand the forces generated by the leverage of the tusks and head-to-head collisions. The back of the skull is flattened and spread out, creating arches that protect the brain in every direction. The skull contains air cavities   (sinuses) that reduce the weight of the skull while maintaining overall strength. These cavities give the inside of the skull a honeycomb-like appearance. The cranium is particularly large and provides enough room for the attachment of muscles to support the entire head. The lower jaw is solid and heavy. Because of the size of the head, the neck is relatively short to provide better support.

Habitats

Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savanna's, forests, deserts, and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. Elephants interact strongly with the ecosystems they inhabit (Kerley et al.,2008) this may be due to their large size and high home ranging, They are savanna key stone species, This means that many other species benefits depending on the presence of elephants. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs, usually target only young elephants (or "calves").

Importance

Elephants are used as working animals in Asia. In the past, they were used in war; today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos,  or exploited for entertainment in circuses, their tusks are used for making ornaments. Elephants are highly recognizable and have been featured in art, folklore, religion, literature, and popular culture.

Conservation status 

African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered. One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people.

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