The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s International Affairs Program coordinates domestic and international efforts to protect, restore, and enhance the world’s diverse wildlife and their habitats with a focus on species of international concern. We envision a world where all people value nature and conserve living resources for the well-being of life on Earth.
Large herds of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) once roamed freely throughout Eurasia’s forests and grasslands, with historic populations extending from Turkey and Syria in the west, along the coasts of Iran and Pakistan, all the way across the continent to the eastern coast of China and north to the Yangtze River. Historic estimates are merely guesses, but there could have once been more than 1,000,000 Asian elephants occupying the Eurasian continents. Today, Asian elephants have been extirpated from approximately 95% of their historical range and remain in only 13 countries, mostly in small, isolated populations. Sixty percent of the total population is in India, and comparatively large populations (>1,000 individuals) are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. However, populations in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Laos, Nepal, and Vietnam number in the hundreds. While some of these small populations are considered relatively secure (Nepal, Bhutan), others are under serious threat (Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam) and the chances of long-term persistence of these populations is uncertain.
Current population estimates of wild Asian elephants range from 45,000 to 50,000 individuals, but this is largely a rough estimate, as it is exceedingly difficult to count low density populations of elephants dispersed across large areas and densely forested landscapes. Continued population declines are mainly human-driven, caused by habitat loss and fragmentation, resulting in an increased interface between humans and elephants. This interface leads to human-elephant conflict, poaching, and direct mortality from human infrastructure such as highways, canals, railways, roads, and electric lines.
In 1997, with awareness of the increasing threat to the welfare of the already endangered Asian elephant, The Asian Elephant Conservation Act was signed into federal law. The Act provides for the conservation of wild Asian elephants by supporting conservation programs in countries within the range of Asian elephants, and the projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of wild Asian elephants.
The Asian Elephant Conservation Act resulted from the efforts of a former United States Congressman, Mr. Andy Ireland, who was seeking to support elephant conservation in a meaningful way by facilitating a private/public partnership. Mr. Ireland, at the time an executive of Feld Entertainment, served as a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida for almost 20 years. In 1997, discussions with FWS pointed to a need for an Asian Elephant Conservation Act modelled after the previously approved African Elephant Conservation Act (1988) and Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act (1994). With the support of Feld Entertainment, Mr. Ireland then spearheaded the effort to obtain legislation that would become the Asian Elephant Conservation Act. Mr. Ireland enlisted his former colleagues in Congress, the Honorable Jim Saxton, a Representative from the State of New Jersey, and the Honorable Neil Abercrombie, a Representative from the State of Hawaii, who agreed to sponsor the legislation. They built support within the local U.S. conservation community by bringing together the American Zoo & Aquarium Association and the World Wildlife Fund, and, along with Feld Entertainment, formed a small coalition of private partners. This provided a way for U.S.-based organizations to aid Asian elephant conservation by supporting federal legislation encouraging such partnerships.
Mr. Saxton and Mr. Abercrombie, along with fifteen other co-sponsors, introduced the Asian Elephant Conservation Act, H.R. 1787, into the United States House of Representatives on June 4, 1997. The legislation proposed “to assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by supporting and providing financial resources for the conservation programs of nations within the range of Asian elephants and projects of persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of Asian elephants.”
The House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans, Committee on Resources, held a public hearing on H.R. 1787 in Washington DC on July 31, 1997. In his opening statement, Mr. Saxton made the following comments:
“… The fundamental purposes of this legislation are twofold: one, to create an Asian Elephant Conservation Fund, and two, to authorize the Congress to appropriate up to US$ 5 million per year to this fund to finance various conservation projects for each of the next five fiscal years. This legislation is modelled after the highly successful African Elephant Conservation Act of 1988 and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994. The new authorization would be separate from those funds appropriated for African elephants, rhinos, and tigers. Under the terms of H.R. 1787, the Secretary of Interior would carefully evaluate the merits of each proposed conservation project, select those that best enhance the future of the Asian elephant, and give priority to those projects whose sponsors demonstrate the ability to match some portion of the Federal funds. In addition, the bill stipulates that the Secretary may accept donations to assist Asian elephants and shall spend no more than 3 percent of the amount appropriated to administer the fund. Unless immediate steps are taken to conserve this magnificent animal, it will surely continue to disappear from much, if not most, of its traditional habitat. We cannot allow the Asian elephant, which has such a direct impact on so many other species, to become extinct. The goal of H.R. 1787 is to stop the decline and hopefully rebuild the population stocks of this irreplaceable species by financing with a small amount of Federal money a limited number of conservation Projects…”
The committee unanimously approved H.R. 1787; it was then sent to the United States House of Representatives for consideration by all 435 members. The House passed H.R. 1787 on October 21, the United States Senate approved it on 8 November 8 without a hearing, and President Clinton signed H.R. 1787 into law on November 19, 1997.
The Asian Elephant Conservation Act gave the United States Congress permission to create an Asian Elephant Conservation Fund. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service serves as the implementing federal agency of the Act and stewards the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund grants program. The Act allows funds to be spent to support Asian elephant conservation in range states, and the budget is re-approved on a yearly basis. Please read this peer-reviewed article for additional details related to the history of the Act.