Elephant Conservation

The Tulsa Zoo is very proud of our largest residents, our 3 Asian elephants.  Over half a million visitors each year get the opportunity to learn from these animal ambassadors, and we work hard to provide them with the best possible care.  We also take elephant conservation outside of the Zoo very seriously, and we are currently supporting several field projects throughout the Asian elephant’s home range.  In fact, elephant conservation is a big part of our overall conservation mission.  The Tulsa Zoo is providing support for the following projects:

Elephant Care International’s India Healthcare Project. The Tulsa Zoo provided funding to study tuberculosis (TB) in India’s elephants.  TB is a threat to wild and captive elephants worldwide, and the high incidence of TB among humans in Asia makes it likely that many elephants within Asia are also infected.  India alone accounts for 1/3 of the world’s human cases of TB, and is home to half of all wild Asian elephants along with approximately 3,500 captive elephants.  Fieldwork will be conducted by a team of Indian veterinary professionals under the auspices of Prof. R. Sukumar, Ph.D. and the Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre (a division of Asian Nature Conservation Foundation).  The TB project in India is the largest elephant healthcare project ever launched. 

For more information visit www.elephantcare.org

Increase Human-Elephant Co-existence through a Community Based Monitoring & Awareness Program, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s elephant populations are currently threatened by deforestation, land degradation, and unregulated exploitation of natural resources. Effective human-elephant conflict mitigation cannot take place in the long term without the involvement and true support of the local communities. Similarly, rural livelihoods depend on a flow of natural resource benefits, many of which cannot be sustained without active protective measures.

To build these partnerships requires greater understanding about working with local communities in designing programs to realize joint benefits. It also requires effective community empowerment to allow the communities to plan for their own future.

For more information visit www.elephantconservation.org

Sumatran Elephant Conservation Center. In Sumatra, the significant reduction of forests and a threefold increase in the human population over the last two decades have placed Sumatran Asian elephant populations in jeopardy.  This is evidenced by the escalation of conflicts between elephants and humans.

Elephants that wander into human settlements are often relocated to conservation centers in Sumatra. In fact, more than 700 elephants have been relocated to these centers. However, insufficient knowledge and funding have resulted in a serious lack of food and care for the elephants, resulting in many losses.

In response, the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) has funded and organized a number of trips to the Sumatran Elephant Conservation Centers (ECC) to deliver medical supplies and provide training. IEF elephant experts and veterinarians share information with the staff at the conservation centers on captive elephant husbandry and health care in an effort to make long-term positive changes in the lives of the elephants at the centers and to protect this important population while the government of Indonesia develops programs for habitat protection. 

For more information visit www.elephantconservation.org