Thoughts on (so called) conservation of Asian elephants
We need to understand that elephant conservation in Asia is entirely different from Africa.
The main threat to African elephants is poaching and to a certain degree habitat loss. In Asia poaching for ivory is currently not a main problem, but there are many other serious Issues. Human...
Breaking news! Jumbo Elephant Photo Id Beta version is ready!
Breaking news! Jumbo Elephant Photo Id Beta version is ready!
After a long development phase and a few hick ups, Jumbo Elephant Photo Id Beta version is ready.
See the demo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uwaDoxrjII
Please support for a big change in elephant conservation
We are proud to announce the new webpage for our association:
NWA will be handling our software project:
Please support our efforts at:
http://elephant-photo-id.org/
http://naturewildlifeassoc.org/
https://www.facebook.com/naturewildlifeassoc/
Developed by khaoyainews and Electric Bench, Jumbo Elephant Photo ID is a powerful tool for research, conservation and wildlife management. Using advanced image recognition enables it to identify individual elephants from photographs. Using both local and central databases (cloud) it helps to compare pictures from various source. This will lead to a huge data...
Development of Jumbo Elephant Photo ID by Khaoyainews
After years of researching the possibility to develop a software program to assist with identifications of individual elephants from pictures I found a developer that is specialized in this kind of application. Lots of work went into this software development in recent month and it should be ready for implementation in a few month.
Wild elephants go shopping in the local market at Pala-U
Wild Elelphants bathing at Kaeng Krachan National Park.
Bathing and drinking is always a social event.
Old and young enjoy the bath and are playing together.
Wild elephant begging on the road in Pala-U/Kaeng Krachan
Along the road from Hua Hin to Pala-U wild elephants can be seen begging for food
Even so they are not fed anymore they continue to wander along the road.
if you encounter elephants on this stretch of road, please do not stop, just keep going.
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Stump-tailed macaque or Macaca arctoides have very distinctive long hair.
They have have pink or red faces which darken to brown or nearly black as they get older.
Males are much larger than females.
Stump-tailed macaques are distributed from northeastern India and southern China into the northwestern tip of West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula. They are also...
Olive-backed Sunbird ( Cinnyris jugularis ) is endemic through out south-east Asia.
Sunbirds take nectar from flowers, similar to Hummingbirds
A male Olive-backed Sunbird perched on a branch.
Olive-backed Sunbirds mate between April and August.
A male in breeding plumage.
Soon after the original reforestation Gaur from Khao Yai National Park moved in.
There was plenty of food between the small trees, but once the trees grew bigger, this food source started to disappear.
That was when serious problems started! The Gaur left the protected area in search of food.
They raided surrounding farmland.
So the management had...
Gaur bulls fighting in Khao Paeng Ma Non-hunting Area
Khao Phaeng Ma is a reforestation project covering 8 km² adjacent to Khao Yai National Park.
There are a few hundred gaur today.
They are very easy to see, almost every day.
Oriental White-eyes in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary
A hot dry day in april at a small waterhole in Phu Khieo.
Zosterops palpebrosus or Oriental White-eyes are cooling down from the heat.
White eyes forage in small flocks, feeding on nectar and small insects. They can be easily identified by the white eye-ring and overall yellowish upperparts.
https://youtu.be/yvYZZCyFmzA?t=2
White-browed Scimitar Babbler at Phu Kieow Wildlife Sanctuary
White-browed Scimitar Babblers enjoying a bath at a small waterhole.
Pomatorhinus schisticeps natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and
subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The status of wild elephants in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary
There are about 250 wild elephants in Phu Khieow Wildlife Sanctuary.
They are part of a larger population of about 350 elephants migrating between Phu Khieow, Nam Nao National Park
and Tat Mok National Park.
Only few incidents of human elephant conflict happen in Phu Khieo ,
but there is an elephant poaching problem.
according to official numbers about...
Various small mammals at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary
During dry season you can find many small mammals around small waterholes these are pictures from Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary.
This is a Back-striped Weasel.
Actually seeing a Back-striped Weasel is a highlight as they are very rare in Thailand.
A Northern Tree-shrew is coming for a drink.
A shy Himalayan striped Tree-squirrel.
Indo-Chinese Ground-squirrel checking out the waterhole.
And...
Hog Deer get their name from the hog-like running through the forests with its head down so that it can duck under obstacles instead of leaping over them like most other deer.
A mature hog deer stag stands about 70 cm at the shoulder and weighs approximately 50 kg .
The antler of a hog deer stag is three tined-brow...
This is a Back-striped Weasel (Mustela strigidorsa).
It is one of the most elusive mammals in Thailand.
In Thailand they are only known to exist in Loei province and Phu Kieo Wildlife Sanctuary.
Birds and other wildlife at a waterhole in Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary
This time of the year it is very hot and dry,so wildlife and birds are visiting waterholes frequently.
White-rumped Munias.
Eye-browed Thrush.
White-crested Laughingthrush.
Yellow-throated Marten.
Lineated Barbet.
Northern Treeshrew.
Stripe-throated Bulbul and Blue-winged Leafbird.
Blue-winged Leafbird.
Puff-throated Bulbul.
White-throated Rockthrush (female).
Emerald Dove.
Here one of the twins is lying near the mothers left foot, the second is just to the left partially obscured by the grass
In order not to disturb the elephants and the danger of detection, it was not possible to get closer or take pictures from a different angle.
These pictures where taken by one...
This bull turned up last year for the first time.
He is not used to traffic and people at all, running back into the forest immediately.
He is already quiet old probably around 40 years old.
Watch out for Elephant Herds as well, they are hungry too. When food is scarce, herds a splitting into smaller groups. They walk along the road, crisscrossing to find the best food.
this is a herd of 12 elephants, so there still seems to be enough food around
They will walk very slowly.
Just be a little patient,...
It is dry season and this year it is really dry. Food in the forest as well as water are scarce in Khao Yai National Park, so expect to see more
elephants during daytime on and along the road. Elephant Bulls are mostly solitary and sometimes on the edge, so please be careful on the roads!
Please...
The trend continues!
Khao Yai's transition from a National Park to an Amusement Park continues.
I will have a look at the different points.
1. Tourism:
Tourism is continuing to change from people loving nature to people with other interests.
Most tourists with nature interests are not coming back to Khao Yai National Park,
they are replaced by people...
Visiting Khao Yai National Park for about 25 years, I saw the development of problems first hand.
To understand the reasons for the increasing problems it is necessary to go back for at least 20 years.
By then Khao Yai was a very quiet place, you could spend 2-3 weeks alone at the camping area.
The road...
On Sunday October 18th at around 17.30 a motorbike was attacked by a herd of wild elephants in Khao Yai National Park.
The incident occurred on the road to Prachin Buri near Km 32.
After park staff cleared the road and guided the backed-up cars through, about 20-30 cars in the opposite direction passed as well.
A...
Young elephants do not eat mineral rich soil.
They enjot their time while the adults feast on the soil.
They play some take a nap and they socialize with others.
Its also time for a drink as long as the source is stationary.
While the adult elephants are enjoying mineral rich soil,
the youngster having fun and learning.
A social "event", very special to see all the interactions.
A big tusker named "Due".
Long tusks are one of his feature characteristics.
He can be very aggressive when upset, but he is not easily disturbed.
His main feature is his short, crooked tail.
The tip of his left tusk is broken off.
This is a small elephant bull about 8 years old.
He is not scared of cars or anything.
.
He is the main culprit breaking cars as he likes to play with them.
His name is Tho.
Very gentle walking along the road.
This is "Mae Gnat".
Greeting every car with a loud trumpeting.
She is old (over 50 years ) and usually on her own.
when elephants are getting old, they separate from the herd, as their walking speed and their food is different from the others.
This family of oriental pied hornbills with 2 juveniles is eating flying termites.
These hornbills eat various fruit, insects, bird eggs and even small mammals as well as reptiles.
Here are a male and a juvenile.
Female in the background.
Juvenile sun bathing.
Even so I know this bull, he is new in my album as I did not have good pictures of him before
His tasks are pointing in different directions.
His left ear has a "M" shaped cut-out.
This elephant is called "gna biang lek" because of his different tasks.
They are curved differently.
Other features are the partially missing flap and a round hole at the upper tip of his right ear.
Both ears are tattered.
Gna Biang Lek is not aggressive at all and is not intimidated by cars.
Very nice with a Park Ranger...