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"Conserving the Asian Elephant in Sri Lanka" Charles
Santiapillai Wednesday, 19th February 2003: 4.00pm - 5.00pm Lecture Theatre 32 Visitors may park at
Carpark 10 Host: A/P Peter Ng About the Talk "Throughout Sri Lanka, human-elephant conflict appears to have replaced poaching as the major cause of elephant mortality in the wild. Last year, on average, three elephants were killed per week, and wild elephants killed about 50-60 people. The huge size and intemperate appetite of elephants prevent their co-existence with people in agricultural areas, unless resultant damage can be adequately and promptly compensated. The goodwill and tolerance of the local communities ultimately determine the number of elephants supported in a protected area and its surrounding region. Left unresolved this will accelerate the demise of the elephant in Sri Lanka. The key to a long-term solution is two-fold: 1) to encourage national land-use strategies to minimize the occurrence of conflict situation, and 2) to ensure that in areas where humans and elephants do overlap, people derive tangible benefits from their presence. Conservation of elephant in Sri Lanka is inextricably linked to the welfare of the rural poor and the socially disadvantaged who are struggling to survive in areas frequented by potentially dangerous wildlife. Elephant conservation is not only about the survival of one of Sri Lanka's best loved animal; it is also about people's well-being, preservation of biodiversity, and human survival."
Dr Charles Santiapillai received his PhD in mammalogy from Southampton University in 1976 and began wildlife ecology studies in the Ruhuna National Park in Sri Lanka through the early 80's. He served as Senior Scientific Officer with WWF-Indonesia from 1984-1992, shifting his focus towards conservation and management of mainly large mammals including the tiger, Javan and Sumatran rhinos and the elephant in Indonesia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. His diplomacy assisted him in completing the 1990 IUCN (World Conservation Society)'s Action Plan for the Asian Elephant as well as the 1990 Action Plan for Asian Otters - collaborative efforts by the international scientific and wildlife management community to establish global conservation strategies for species and habitat conservation. In 1990, he received the Gold Medal for Conservation from HRH Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands. He resumed wildlife studies at Ruhuna, Sri Lanka in 1993 and took an increasing role in elephant conservation. Besides training national park officials in management of elephants and other wildlife, he also reintroduced methods for managing captive elephants by importing traditional methods from Thailand. He assumed the role of the Deputy Chairman of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group in 1998, and is presently conducting an ecological study of elephants at Minneriya National Park, Sri Lanka.
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Locations of venues, Dept. Biological Sciences, NUS Please
refer to this map Seminar Room 3
(SR3) Life Sciences Lab
7A-D Lecture Theatre 32 Raffles Museum To be kept appraised of the meetings of the Biodiversity Journal Club, please subscribe to the Ecotax Mailing List For updates on Natural History news in Singapore, see Habitatnews Meetings of the Biodiversity & Ecology Journal Club, 2003 Huei-Ping Shen - "Biodiversity of terrestial earthworms in Taiwan". 14th March 2003 Jaap J. Vermeulen - "Sulawesi - Straddling East and West". 4th March 2003 Tzi Ming Leong, Daisy Wowor & Darren Yeo - "Natuna Revisited: A preliminary survey of Pulau Natuna Besar". 25th Feb 2003. Astrid van Meeuwen - "Why do kereru (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) eat what they eat?". 21st Feb 2003. |
