Asian elephants are the largest land mammals on the Asian continent and play a crucial role as keystone species and ecosystem engineers. Distinguished by their smaller ears and domed heads compared to their African counterparts, these gentle giants once roamed across diverse habitats from grasslands to rainforests throughout Asia. However, their population has sharply declined due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and human-elephant conflicts. It's conjunction with World Elephant Day, celebrated annually on the 12th of August, we want to discuss why ensuring their survival is crucial to both people and planet, with Associate Professor Dr Wong Ee Phin, an elephant ecologist and the Principle Investigator from the Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants or MEME, which is a research organisation working on developing evidence-based approach to the conservation of Asian elephants in Peninsular Malaysia. 

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

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Categories:  environment

Tags:  the bigger picture,  earth matters,  meme,  management and ecology of malaysian elephants,  elephant conservation,  human-elephant conflict,  deforestation,  plantations,