Working with mahouts to explore the diet of work elephants in Myanmar (Burma) |
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| Authors: | Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz Thin Zar Lin Wan Htun Seiki Takatsuki Peter Leimgruber |
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| Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Biodiversity Science, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0032 Tokyo, Japan;(2) Botany Department, Yangon University, 186 Thin Baw Gyin Block, Daw Bon Township, Yangon, Myanmar;(3) Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), East Bago Division, Taung Ngu, Myanmar;(4) Laboratory of Wildlife and Conservation, Azabu University, Fuchinobe 1-17-71, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8501, Japan;(5) National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | Captive elephants Elephas maximus Diet Frugivory Myanmar |
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