ASIAN NATURE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

About ANCF

ANCF is a public charitable trust and non-profit organisation involved with ecological and conservation issues including scientific research and surveys, education and training, and field conservation activities. It endeavors to facilitate the gaining of knowledge through scientific research and assessments that ought to form the basis for the formulation of effective nature conservation policies and strategies.

Specialist Divisions

ANCF focuses conservation efforts through its many specialist divisions, which include

• Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre,
• Centre for Conservation Education and Technology,
• Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development
• Centre for Tropical Ecology and Conservation.

Programmes

Land of The Elephant Programme
The Centre has a comprehensive database on the distribution of elephant populations in Southern India. Data on endemism and biodiversity, which enable the prioritization of elephant habitats using a combination of elephant and biodiversity related factors. The centre has a programme of identifying and mapping corridors as well as raising funds for securing or augmenting them.

Activities include

• Field surveys of elephant distribution
• Mapping of elephant habitats and identifying important "corridors" that are under threat.

Mitigating Elephant-Human Conflict
The center has undertaken various projects to study human-elephant conflict in south, east and northeast India. Extensive surveys of elephant-human conflict are regularly carried out in the Assam, Meghalaya and Orissa. At present, a long-term study has been instituted in the Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala since 1999 where crop-raiding frequencies in 14 settlements are being monitored intensively through active local participation.

Monitoring Elephant Populations
The centre has been regularly monitoring elephant numbers and demography in the Nilgiri-Eastern Ghats (Bandipur Project Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai Sanctuary and Nilgiri North Division) and the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Since May, 2001 the centre has been monitoring major habitats in the Nagarhole National Park, Karnataka, southern India to determine seasonal variation in habitat utilization by elephants. The organisation maintains a comprehensive mortality and ivory seizure database on Asian elephants in India.

Health Care and Management of Captive Elephants

The Centre is compiling a comprehensive manual on the health care and management of captive Asian elephants that can be used by veterinarians and elephant managers primarily in Asian facilities, but could also be a useful reference in western facilities. The manual includes chapters on camp management, reproduction and rearing of calves, nutrition and feeding, and diseases and their treatment.

Training And Education

Several training programmes and workshops have been conducted for forest department personnel, wildlife researchers, conservationists, academicians, etc. The organisation assists forest departments in southern India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh) in designing and executing national elephant censuses carried out every four years. Wildlife and forest department staff of several Asian countries including Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and China have been trained in field surveys and assessment of elephant populations and habitats.

The Organization

It is managed by a Board of Trustees, which includes Prof. Raman Sukumar (Founding and Managing Trustee), Mr. M.O. Sriram (Senior Administrator), Prof. N.H. Ravindranath (Trustee), and Prof. H.S. Jamadagni (Trustee), with Prof. Madhav Gadgil as an Advisor.

Contact

Dr R. Sukumar
Managing Trustee
rsuku@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Mr. M.O. Sriram
Senior Administrator
mosriram@bgl.vsnl.net.in

Registered Office
No. B-713, Sobha Windfall Apartments
Amruthahalli, Sahakarnagar PO,
Bangalore – 560 092, INDIA
++91-80-3620938/39

Extension Office
12/1, Fifth Main Road, Malleswaram
Bangalore 560 003, INDIA
++91-80-3346739, 3460635 (Fax)
Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre
C/o Centre for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012
++91-80-3600382, 3602280 (Fax)
For more information log on to: www.asiannature.org