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Working with mahouts to explore the diet of work elephants in Myanmar (Burma)
Author(s) -
CamposArceiz Ahimsa,
Lin Thin Zar,
Htun Wan,
Takatsuki Seiki,
Leimgruber Peter
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/s11284-008-0466-4
Subject(s) - asian elephant , elephas , seed dispersal , biology , deciduous , biological dispersal , bark (sound) , ecology , geography , population , demography , sociology
At an elephant camp in central Myanmar (Burma), we interviewed mahouts and veterinarians to describe the diet of Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) in a mixed‐deciduous forest. Elephants showed a broad dietary breadth (103 plant species from 42 families); consumed mostly browse (94% of plant species); and were very selective about plant parts [e.g., many trees were eaten exclusively for their bark (22%) or fruits (14%)]. The fruits from 29 plant species were recorded to be eaten by elephants. Several of these were found as fruit remains, seeds, or seedlings in elephant dung, suggesting a role of Asian elephants in seed dispersal. Work elephants and their mahouts prove to be a rich source of information to understand wild elephant ecology.