Wildlife corridors and Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus): Lessons from Rajaji National Park, North-West India

Presently, most of the mega herbivores are under great threat mainly due to the loss and degradation of their natural habitat and loss of corridors. During the past 50 years most of the forest areas have undergone to drastic changes mainly due to huge amount of anthropogenic and developmental activities like agricultural expansion, human settlements, construction of canals, railway and road network. All these developmental activities lead to degradation of natural corridors for animal's movement and loss of natural connectivity between the different forest ranges of the same protected area. Corridors are valuable conservation tools, which provide connectivity to different landscapes. We reviewed some of the major reasons those are responsible for declining the population viability of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) within their natural habitat. Rajaji National Park and its adjoining forest comprises of many valuable corridors through which elephants performs their long-term migration. During the recent past developmental work along with biotic pressure has affected the elephant's movements in these corridors. Presently elephant's movement in Chilla - Motichur corridor area is quite rare but elephants are currently utilizing Khara - Anjani corridor and this corridor offer urgent need for conservation. Elephants of this area were subjected to move only in few of the forests as anthropogenic barriers are currently restricting their long movements from Rajaji to Corbett National parks. The long-term effects will include genetic isolation, habitat fragmentation within the same forest and enhancement in the human-elephant conflict in adjoining areas. Genetic isolation of elephant populations may also increase the chances of replacement of interbreeding to intra-breeding, and thereby reduce the population persistence even for wide ranging wildlife species. Major threat to most of the wild animals and elephants has been the railway track and national highways, which are passing exactly in between the forests. (Journal of American Science 2009;5(5):31-40). (ISSN: 1545-1003).