Forest elephant paths and movements at the Odzala National Park, Congo: the role of clearings and Marantaceae forests

The role of forest clearings and Marantaceae forest on elephant movement at the Odzala National Park was studied by describing and mapping elephant paths. Three types of paths were distinguished based on their direction, length, width, elephant activity and the types of forests they cross. They were called boulevards, foraging paths, and clearing alleys. All paths explored were heavily used. Boulevards are used for travelling over long distances (up to 34 km) and for linking up rapidly favourite sites such as clearings. Foraging paths mainly run through the medium-density Marantaceae forests which provide elephants with both herbaceous foods and tree fruit. Clearing alleys form a dense network of tracks around clearings. This network could be a result of an anti-predatory monitoring behaviour of elephants before entering the clearings where they have long experienced heavy poaching. The heavy trampling which results from the elephant activity could contribute to the maintenance of clearings by preventing germination and seedling survival of the numerous seeds dispersed in their dung.     

Assessment of livestock grazing pressure in and around the elephant corridors in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, south India

Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in southern India plays an important role in biodiversity conservation, especially of large mammals, by offering habitat contiguity of about 3300 km² with three other protected areas in the region, namely Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks and Wynaad Wildlife Sanctuary through forest corridors between the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats forests. The habitat linkage is crucial for large ranging animals such as elephants, which use these forest corridors for migration. Livestock grazing, a major biotic interference in forest corridors, originates from seven settlements of the Masinagudi group of villages on the eastern and the southeastern fringes of the sanctuary. Construction of a series of hydroelectric power stations, numbering about three at Singara, Marvakandy (Masinagudi) and Moyar, around the Masinagudi villages caused a rapid growth in human population (143% between 1961 and 1991), particularly the landless labourers and livestock. Free grazing by about 15 000–17 000 resident as well as migratory livestock every year in and around the forest corridors, coupled with removal of cattle dung from the forest floor, have adversely affected the forest regeneration and helped proliferation of weed species such as Lantana camara, Casia tora, C. occidentalis, Opuntia dillenii, and Ageratum conyzoides. The annual fodder production from the corridor forest could meet the demand of about two-thirds of the resident population, while the crop residues from the marginal agriculture could not support the remaining one-third livestock population. In view of such a situation, measures have been suggested to reduce livestock population and implement the ecodevelopment packages in order to ensure the corridor connectivity for the long-term conservation of the elephant population.     

Ovarian control of blood meal retention the the mosquito Anopheles freeborni

Female Anopheles freeborni begin to defaecate the haem containing residue of a blood meal about the time their ova mature, 40–45 hr after feeding. Ovariectomized females begin to defaecate 15 hr prematurely, while ovariectomized females treated with 20-hydroxyecdysone retain blood meals longer, proportional to dose, than do those untreated. It is concluded that the production of ecdysteroids by the ovary initiates a mechanism for retention of the blood meal in the mosquito.     

Working for the Forest: The Ambivalent Intimacies of Human–Elephant Collaboration in South Indian Wildlife Conservation

This paper explores the collaboration of humans and elephants in South Indian wildlife conservation. Drawing on ethnography within the Indian forest department and among elephant handlers in Wayanad, Kerala, it highlights the largely invisible work relationship between indigenous forest labourers and captive elephants, and their essential contribution to wildlife management. Extending ethnographic attention beyond an exclusively human realm, I show that human and elephant relations have been co-constituted while working together for the forest department. Their working partnership, situated in the historical nature-cultures of logging, teak extraction, and conservation, has created ambivalent intimacies between humans and elephants, containing both mutual violence and affect. By highlighting the importance of work relationships, history, and questions of power for multi-species studies, this article argues that human–animal relations are not only shaped by individual intimacies, but also by danger, risk, and aggression, situated within a region's larger political ecology.