They're the largest land mammal on the Asian continent, a keystone species, invaluable ecosystem engineers, and cute to boot. Decades ago, the Asian Elephant could be found in almost every state in Peninsular Malaysia, but their numbers have dwindled so much that these days, you'll likely encounter them in only six states. The usual litany of issues - habitat loss and fragmentation, and human-elephant conflict - are causing their numbers to decline. The Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME) have been working on science-based conservation approaches for the preservation of elephants in Peninsular Malaysia, and are pushing for Malaysians to find better ways to coexist with elephants. Ahead of World Elephant Day, we speak to MEME's Principal Investigator, Dr Wong Ee Phin, and Project Manager, Praveena Chackrapani, about the group's research, and why elephants are awesome.

Image source: Shutterstock 

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories:  Environment,  Science

Tags:  The Bigger Picture,  Earth Matters,  Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants,  MEME,  Asian elephant,  #worldelephantday,  Wong Ee Phin,  human-wildlife conflict,  habitat loss,  habitat fragmentation,