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A multistakeholder exercise to identify research and
conservation priorities for Asian elephants in China
Shu Chen, Guo-Zheng Sun, Yun Wang, Cheng
Huang, Ying Chen, Peng Liu, Yun Deng, Da-Fan
Cao, Ming-Xia Zhang, Saylin Ong, Hong-Pei
Yang, Qiao-Yan Wang, Zhong-Yuan Zhang, Bin
Wang, Xuan Zheng, Yuan Lei, Chun Li, Jing Sun,
Ming-Wei Bao, Zi-Cheng Yang, Lei Guan, Ya-
Kuan Sun, Fang-Yi Zhou, Jing-Xin Liu, Li-Li Li,
Fang Wang, Richard T. Corlett, Rui-Chang Quan,
Ming-Yong Chen, Li Zhang, Kun Shi, Ahimsa
Campos-Arceiz
PII: S2351-9894(21)00111-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01561
Reference: GECCO1561
To appear in: Global Ecology and Conservation
Received date: 13 June 2020
Revised date: 25 February 2021
Accepted date: 25 March 2021
Please cite this article as: Shu Chen, Guo-Zheng Sun, Yun Wang, Cheng Huang,
Ying Chen, Peng Liu, Yun Deng, Da-Fan Cao, Ming-Xia Zhang, Saylin Ong,
Hong-Pei Yang, Qiao-Yan Wang, Zhong-Yuan Zhang, Bin Wang, Xuan Zheng,
Yuan Lei, Chun Li, Jing Sun, Ming-Wei Bao, Zi-Cheng Yang, Lei Guan, Ya-
Kuan Sun, Fang-Yi Zhou, Jing-Xin Liu, Li-Li Li, Fang Wang, Richard T.
Corlett, Rui-Chang Quan, Ming-Yong Chen, Li Zhang, Kun Shi and Ahimsa
Campos-Arceiz, A multistakeholder exercise to identify research and
conservation priorities for Asian elephants in China, Global Ecology and
Conservation, (2020) doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01561
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such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability,
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© 2020 Published by Elsevier.
1
A multistakeholder exercise to identify research and conservation priorities for Asian
elephants in China
Shu Chen1, Guo-Zheng Sun2, Yun Wang3, Cheng Huang4,5, Ying Chen6,7, Peng Liu7,8, Yun
Deng9,10,11, Da-Fan Cao12, Ming-Xia Zhang13, Saylin Ong14, Hong-Pei Yang15, Qiao-Yan
Wang15, Zhong-Yuan Zhang15, Bin Wang16, Xuan Zheng17, Yuan Lei18, Chun Li19, Jing Sun20,
Ming-Wei Bao21,22, Zi-Cheng Yang2, Lei Guan3, Ya-Kuan Sun23, Fang-Yi Zhou8,24, Jing-Xin
Liu25, Li-Li Li13, Fang Wang26, Richard T. Corlett13, Rui-Chang Quan13,27, Ming-Yong
Chen26, Li Zhang8,24, Kun Shi6, and Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz13,27,28,*
1 Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK;
2 Kunming Institute of Survey and Design, State Forestry and Grassland Administration, 399
Tanhua Road, Kunming, Yunnan, 650216, China;
3 China Academy of Transportation Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China;
4 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resource and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China;
5 School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou, 510275, China;
6 Wildlife Institute, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China;
7 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;
8 Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education,
College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China;
9 CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical
Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China;
10 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;
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11 National Forest Ecosystem Research Station at Xishuangbanna, Xishuangbanna Tropical
Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China;
12 International Fund for Animal Welfare, Pu’er, Yunnan, 665000, China;
13 Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, 666303, China;
14 CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme South-East Asia,
IUCN Asia, Bangkok, Thailand;
15 Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Research Institute, Xishuangbanna Prefecture,
Yunnan Province, 66100, China;
16 Mengyang Sub-Reserve, Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, Xishuangbanna
Prefecture, Yunnan Province, 665024, China;
17 Menghai Forestry and Grassland Bureau, Jingguan Rd, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan
Province, 666200, China;
18 Nuo Zha Du Provincial Nature Reserve Administration, 61 Bozhilin Rd, Simao District,
Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, 665000, China;
19 The Nature Conservancy, Lvjing Huayuan, Dianchi Rd, Kunming, Yunnan, 650228, China;
20 Yunnan Green Environment Development Foundation, 33 Xichang Rd, Kunming, Yunnan,
China;
21 Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley Scenic Area Co. LTD, Xishuangbanna Prefecture,
Yunnan Province, 666100, China;
22 Asian Elephant Conservation Breeding and Rescue Center, Yunnan, China.Xishuangbanna
Prefecture, Yunnan Province, 66100, China;
23 School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083,
China;
24 Institute of Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China;
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25 Environmental Education Center, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan, 666303, China;
26 School of Ecology and Environment, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan,
China;
27 Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yezin, Nay
Pyi Taw 05282, Myanmar;
28 School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia,
Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia.
Corresponding author: ACA, ahimsa@xtbg.ac.cn
Abstract
China is home to a small but expanding population of wild Asian elephants (Elephas
maximus). Both research interest and conservation efforts have increased in recent years, but
these have been fragmented. Here we present the results from a collaborative, multi-sectorial,
multi-stakeholder exercise to identify priorities for Chinese elephant research and
conservation. We first compiled a comprehensive list of issues, categorized under nine
research and nine conservation themes, through an on-line survey of stakeholders. These
issues were subsequently consolidated, timelined (as short-, mid-, or long-term issues), and
ranked by their perceived priority in a two-day workshop attended by 44 people representing
28 organizations. The initial list of 656 issues (337 research and 319 conservation) was
consolidated into a list of 251 (121 research and 130 conservation) issues. After priority
ranking, we retained the top-three issues within each theme (making a total of 55 priority
issues, due to a tie), which are then discussed in detail in this paper. Most (87%, n=55)
priority issues were classified as short-term, suggesting that the exercise might have
succeeded in identifying the current priorities, but not emerging issues that might require
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attention in future. Some issues appeared in various forms in different themes. Among
research questions, participants highlighted the importance of understanding the carrying
capacity of the current elephant range habitats, elephant movement patterns and expected
range changes, the drivers of human-elephant conflict (HEC), improvements to the current
HEC financial compensation mechanism, and ways of engaging local communities in HEC
mitigation. Regarding elephant conservation, recurrent issues included effectively engaging
communities, improving HEC early-warning systems and financial compensation
mechanisms, establishing a new national park within elephant range, and creating
mechanisms for communication and collaboration among elephant research and conservation
stakeholders in China. Our exercise was effective in engaging experts from a diversity of
different sectors and organizations in discussions about Asian elephants in China, and
generated a list of priorities that can help guide elephant research and conservation efforts.
Keywords
Elephas maximus; Human-elephant coexistence; Human-elephant conflict; Multi-sectorial;
Participatory; Yunnan
1. Introduction
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are of major ecological and cultural importance due to
their influence on ecosystem processes and their iconic prominence in many Asian societies
(e.g., Sukumar 2003). Once widely distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, wild
elephants are now Endangered (Choudhury et al. 2008) after losing over 95% of their
historical range (Sukumar 2006). An estimated 189 wild Asian elephant populations occupy
fragmented habitats in parts of their former range, with 115 (61%) of these populations
having < 50 individuals (Hedges et al. 2009, Chen et al. 2019a). Managing the spatial
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interfaces between humans and elephants, especially for small populations in highly
fragmented landscapes, is challenging, but key for the long-term survival of the species.
China is home to a small but expanding population of a few hundred wild Asian
elephants (for details on recent population estimates please see Lv et al. 2019, Tang et al.
2019, Wang et al. 2019a, Zhu et al. 2019), probably less than 1% of the global total
(Fernando & Pastorini 2011). These elephants are scattered in human-dominated landscapes
across three prefectures (Xishuangbanna, Lincang, and Pu’er) of southern Yunnan, in
southwest China. Two of China’s four geographically isolated populations are assumed to
have < 50 individuals (Fig. 1; Huang et al. 2019). Despite its small size, the area occupied by
Asian elephants in China has been growing moderately in recent decades, which is likely to
reflect also a growth in number of individuals (e.g., Zhang et al. 2015). This range expansion,
coupled with the simultaneous expansion of human populations, agriculture, and
infrastructure in the same areas (Liu et al. 2017b, Huang et al. 2020), has led to complex
conservation challenges. Some elephants are causing severe human-elephant conflicts (HEC)
in areas where people had not coexisted with elephants for several decades (Wang et al.
2020). In addition, while the elephant range is currently expanding, the rapid development of
southern Yunnan poses the question of whether elephants can continue to coexist with people
in the future (e.g., Huang et al. 2020).
Asian elephants in China were designated as a Class I protected species in 1988 (Li
2007), equivalent to the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), and are a species of great
national research and conservation interest. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang
have both made statements in strong support of their protection (Chen et al. 2019b). The
volume of research published in English on Asian elephants has grown at a much faster pace
in China than elsewhere (Fig. 2), and many additional papers have been published in Chinese.
Recent research has focused on their biology (e.g., Tang et al. 2020, Wang et al. 2019b),
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HEC (Chen et al. 2013, Chen et al. 2016, Li et al., 2018), habitat use and assessment (e.g.,
Zhang et al. 2015, Liu et al. 2016, Huang et al. 2019), impact of transportation infrastructure
(Pan et al. 2009; Wang et al. 2019c,d, Liu et al. 2017a, Liu et al. 2018a,b, Huang et al. 2020),
valuation of ecosystem services (Liu et al. 2017b), and issues related to illegal ivory and
wildlife trade (Yu et al. 2017), among others.
Over the same period, China has greatly increased its efforts in biodiversity
conservation, including a massive expansion of the protected area (PA) system (Xu et al.
2019). In 2021 (postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19), China will host the crucial 15th
Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD COP15), at which the post-2020 global conservation framework will be
established. The theme, “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on
Earth”, highlights China’s vision of an ‘Ecological Civilization’ (Xiao & Zhao 2017), and
provides an opportunity to showcase China’s progress in achieving this (United Nations
2019). The increasing interest in elephant conservation and HEC is reflected in the
establishment of an HEC compensation fund (Chen et al. 2013), an elephant monitoring
centre in Xishuangbanna (Wang et al. 2019e), transboundary collaboration with Lao PDR on
research, monitoring, enforcement, and capacity building (Wang et al. 2015), and plans for
increased protection of the elephant range in a new national park (NP; Chen et al. 2019b).
Despite these efforts, gaps remain in the research and conservation of Chinese
elephants. Research is fragmented and the limited communication among research groups,
coupled with the challenges of conserving elephants in human-dominated landscapes, has
resulted in failures to translate research into conservation practice (Tang 2012, Chen et al.
2019a). China’s rapidly increasing research capacity and political commitment to
conservation allow for evidence-based strategies and multi-sectorial collaborations to be
established to reconcile tensions between conservation and economic development. In this
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context it is important to develop research and conservation agendas that help guide effective
protection for Chinese elephants. These agendas should then also, at least in part, be relevant
in other parts of the Asian elephant range which face similar challenges, particularly in the
neighboring countries of Lao PDR and Myanmar.
The development of research and conservation agendas requires participation from
different sectors and stakeholder groups (e.g., Sutherland et al. 2011). Collaborative
participation in multiple-stakeholder approaches have been effectively used for issues such as
improving environmental sustainability in agricultural sectors (Padfield et al. 2019), defining
feasible and desirable agricultural practices in a watershed (Kalcic et al. 2016), studying and
protecting certain ecosystems (Padflied et al. 2015, Sy et al. 2018), and identifying national-
level conservation priorities (Nagulendran et al. 2016).
Importantly, not all research and conservation priorities have the same timeline (Kark
et al. 2016). While some matters require urgent attention now, others will become important
in years to come, yet need to be identified at an early stage to plan the required interventions
(e.g., Sutherland et al. 2019). In the process of identifying research and conservation
priorities it is therefore useful to assign the perceived timeline (e.g., short vs. mid vs. long-
term) at which issues need to be addressed.
Here we report a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder exercise to identify priorities for
Chinese elephant research and conservation. Specifically, our objectives were to (a) engage a
diverse set of key stakeholders in a process to (b) identify a wide list of issues relevant for
Chinese elephant research and conservation, and (c) rank these issues according to their
perceived priority and relevant timeline. The stakeholders involved in this exercise include
government officers, academics, NGOs, and private companies with different forms of
involvement in elephant research and conservation. The results of this exercise can be used to
guide future Asian elephant research and conservation agendas––including the potential
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development of a national elephant conservation action plan––in China and maybe other
parts of the species range.
2. Material and Methods
2.1. Stakeholder engagement and data collection
Data collection involved a two-step process: an online survey followed by a two-day
workshop (Fig. 3). Initially, a core team of four experts defined broad themes under which
research and conservation issues could be categorized. For research issues, we initially
considered eight themes: 1) elephant biology, behavior, and ecology, 2) elephant populations,
3) elephant habitats and resources, 4) understanding and mitigating HEC, 5) human
dimensions of human-elephant interactions, 6) elephants in captivity, 7) ethics, and 8) other
issues. For elephant conservation we considered the following nine themes: 1) HEC and
coexistence, 2) management actions, 3) habitat protection, 4) anti-poaching, and illegal
wildlife trade (IWT), 5) policy, governance, institutions, and laws, 6) funding and resource
allocation, 7) training, 8) outreach and education, and 9) other issues. The choice of these
original themes was based on previous similar work (e.g., Nagulendran et al. 2016, Padfield
et al. 2019) and internal discussions.
This core team also developed an online survey, which was conducted in Chinese
using the online platform Wenjuanxing (问卷星, https://www.wjx.cn/) and distributed widely
among relevant stakeholders in China using a snowball sampling strategy (e.g., Naderifar et
al. 2017), i.e., the link was distributed to members of our own networks, and respondents
were requested to forward it to their respective relevant networks. The survey included
details about the process and goals of the exercise and respondents were asked to list as many
relevant research and conservation issues as they considered appropriate within each theme.
Although the survey could be answered anonymously, we requested information on
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respondents’ gender, age, education, professional sector and rank, and years of experience
with elephant research and/or conservation. The survey was conducted from 16 to 23 June
2019 (eight days). From this process we obtained an extensive list of research and
conservation issues embedded within the broad themes.
On 24 and 25 June 2019, we conducted a two-day multi-stakeholder workshop in
Chinese at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), within the current elephant
range in China, with the purpose of discussing, consolidating, prioritizing, and timelining (as
either short, mid, or long-term priority) the lists of research and conservation issues. We
defined short-term priorities as those that should be addressed in 1-3 years; mid-term as 4-10
years; and long-term as more than 10 years. The structure of each workshop day was the
same and as follows. First there was a general discussion about the categorization of themes.
During this process, the participants added a ninth theme (finance and policy) to the research
questions, and also re-named the conservation theme ‘others’ to ‘transboundary and
transdisciplinary collaboration’. Then participants were divided into four working groups,
taking care to spread out participants from similar organizations, stakeholder groups, and
seniority across groups. Each group was given the full list of issues collected during the
online survey, from two or three themes each day, and asked to consolidate the issues into a
succinct list of distinct issues. After this process, each group presented their final list of issues
to all the workshop participants, allowing other groups to provide feedback, discuss the
consolidated issues, and ultimately agree on the final list of issues for each theme. Once all
the issues under each theme had been agreed upon, the participants voted their priorities and
appropriate timelines. Voting was conducted by displaying the complete list of issues of all
themes on panels posted in the room walls. Then each participant received small stickers
(each representing one vote) and was asked to vote for up to three top priority issues within
each theme and assign them the suitable timeline. In the ‘transboundary and transdisciplinary’
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conservation theme, we only allowed one vote per participant, given the small number of
issues proposed. Before the closure of each workshop day, the results of the voting were
presented and briefly discussed in plenary session. See Appendix S2 for more details about
the workshop.
2.2. Data analysis
The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The priority of research questions and
conservation issues was assessed by means of a simple ‘priority score’ that represents the
percentage of votes received by a particular issue within each theme. Given the difference in
number of issues per theme, comparison of priority scores across themes should be done with
caution. All data management, analysis, and visualization were conducted in R statistical
environment (R Core Development Team 2020).
3. Results & Discussion
3.1. Original list of issues compiled through online survey
The online survey had 30 participants, all of whom provided complete responses. Among
them, 70% were male and 30% were female. By age, 30% of the respondents were 21-30
years old, 43% were 31-40, and the remaining 27% were more than 40 years of age. In terms
of the highest education attained, a quarter (27%) of our respondents had up to a bachelor’s
degree and the majority (67%) had a postgraduate degree (i.e., a Master or PhD degree). By
sectors, 33% of respondents worked at government agencies and nature reserves, 23% at
NGOs, 23% were academics, 17% students, and 3% (one respondent) worked in the private
sector. Elephant research and management was the main job of 47% of our sample, part of
the job of 33%, and just a small fraction of the work for 17%. In terms of experience with
elephants, 37% had been working on elephants for 2–5 years, 20% >16 years, and 23% <2
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years. Two people had never worked on elephants. By seniority, 43% of the respondents were
junior/early career workers, 17% were middle-level managers, and 27% were senior leaders.
The respondents to the online survey suggested a total of 656 issues, including 337
(51.4%) research questions and 319 (48.6%) conservation issues. Research themes received
an average of 42.1 (range = 15–52) suggested questions; while conservation themes received
39.0 (28–63) suggested issues (Fig. 4).
3.2. Issues consolidated and prioritized in multi-stakeholder workshop
The two-day multi-stakeholder workshop had 44 participants, 32% from government
agencies and nature reserves, 27% academics, 18% students, 14% from NGOs, and the
remaining 9% from private companies. Altogether, 28 different organizations were
represented in the workshop.
After consolidation, research questions were reduced to 121 (35.9% of the original)
and conservation issues to 130 (40.8% of the original; Fig. 4). The consolidated list of
research questions included nine themes with an average of 13.4 (6–25) questions. The two
themes with the largest number of questions were ‘elephant biology, behavior, and ecology’
and the general category ‘others’. Notably, the theme ‘others’ had more questions after the
consolidation process (21) than after the survey (15; Fig. 4), indicating that some issues were
either proposed during the workshop or transferred from other themes. The themes with the
smallest number of questions were ‘human dimensions of HEC’, ‘ethics’, and ‘policy and
finance’ (Fig. 4). The consolidated list of conservation issues also included nine themes with
an average of 14.4 (3–19) issues (Fig. 4). The theme with the highest number of issues was
‘HEC and coexistence’, followed closely by ‘training’ and ‘anti-poaching and IWT’. The
themes with the smallest number were ‘outreach and education’ and ‘transboundary and
transdisciplinary collaboration’ (Fig. 4).
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In the prioritization process we collected 912 votes for research questions and 859 for
conservation issues. The mean priority scores (i.e., the percentage of votes received per issue
within the theme) were 7.4% (median = 6.7%, range = 0–27.8%) for research questions and
6.9% (median = 5%, range = 0–43.5%) for conservation issues (Fig. 5). The top three priority
issues in each theme are shown in Table 1 and the complete list of issues and their priority
score can be found in Table S1. Topics that appeared recurrently among research questions
included issues pertaining to elephants’ use of space, habitat carrying capacities,
understanding the drivers of HEC, how to effectively engage local communities, and how to
improve HEC early warning systems and compensation mechanisms (Table 1). Among
conservation issues, recurrent topics included those related to the establishment of a new NP
in elephant range, creating ecological corridors, managing the habitat (e.g., by clearing gaps
within the forest), and improving HEC early-warning systems (Table 1).
Most (85.5%, n=55) of the top priority issues were considered short-term priorities,
while medium and long-term priorities accounted just for 10.9% (6 issues) and 3.6% (2) of
the issues. The two long-term issues were investigating how to rewild captive elephants
(research question under captive elephants) and developing cooperation mechanisms across
countries and regions (conservation issue under transboundary and transdisciplinary matters;
Table 1). Mid-term priorities included research questions about elephant genetic diversity, the
boundaries of the new elephant NP, and understanding how livelihood changes affect
elephant distribution; and conservation issues such as establishing ecological corridors and
creating mechanisms for elephants to cross linear infrastructure (Table 1).
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3.3. Research priorities by theme
3.3.1. Elephant biology, behavior, and ecology
Although there were many (n=25) and very diverse questions suggested under fundamental
biology, ecology, and behavior, the top three priorities were related to elephants’ use of space
and habitat relationships (Table 1). The top question was ‘what is the elephant carrying
capacity?’ This is a key concern for Chinese elephant conservationists, given the current
growing trend of the elephant range (Zhang et al. 2015), especially in areas with intense HEC
(e.g. Menghai-Lancang; Wang et al. 2020). The issue of carrying capacity was also top
priority under the theme of elephant populations (section 3.3.4). Elephant movements,
particularly connectivity between the fragmented network of nature reserves, are another
major concern for local practitioners (e.g., Zhang et al. 2015, Huang et al. 2019, Li et al.,
2019, and see also section 3.3.9.). Key fundamental studies about Chinese elephants should
focus on their ranging behavior and use of the space. An important issue that arose in
discussions in the workshop is that in China there is fairly good monitoring of elephant
movements, using a combination of drones, camera traps, HEC claim reports, and direct
observations. However, this information is fragmented and has not been used to its full
potential to analyze elephant use of space. Another interesting issue was the use of the term
‘migration’ (迁移, as in the research question about ‘identifying the factors driving elephant
migration’; Table 1). GPS-telemetry studies have so far provided no evidence of migratory
behavior in Asian elephants (e.g. Fernando et al. 2008, Evans et al. 2018, Wadey et al. 2018,
de la Torre et al. 2019). It is unlikely that elephants in China undergo actual migrations (see
Dingle & Drake 2007 for a discussion on the nature of animal migration), rather, Chinese
elephants are likely to occupy different parts of their home ranges in different seasons (Zhang
& Wang 2003).
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3.3.2 Understanding and mitigating HEC
HEC is intense and worsening in China (e.g., Zhang & Wang 2003, Chen et al. 2016, Liu et
al. 2017). It is thus understandable that the top research question (with far more support than
the following questions) in this theme was to better understand the local causes of HEC, since
these are highly complex and context-dependent. In the past few years there has been
abundant work in this area (e.g., Zhang & Wang 2003, Chen et al. 2016, Li et al. 2018,
Huang et al. 2020), but perhaps it is timely to synthesize existing information, reflecting on
what is known and what are the remaining gaps in terms of the characteristics, causes, and
options to address HEC in China. Additionally, it is important to consider what lessons could
be gained from HEC mitigation in other countries and to share the Chinese experiences with
practitioners from elsewhere. The second research priority was how to improve the HEC
compensation scheme. China has what is likely the most advanced HEC financial
compensation scheme in Asia (e.g., Chen et al. 2013, Li et al. 2018). The current system,
however, has been criticized (Chen et al. 2013, Huang et al. 2018, Li et al. 2018) for being
financially insufficient, inefficient, and for being a flat compensation that may lead to
perverse incentives. Chen et al. (2013) suggested transforming it into an actuarial and risk-
based insurance scheme, but the change and expansion of elephant range in recent years has
made it challenging and costly to evaluate HEC risk in a timely manner. China’s HEC
compensation scheme could become the reference for other regions with interest in
implementing financial tools to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts at a broad scale, and more
research should be conducted on this topic. For this purpose, continuous and in-depth
collaboration between researchers, local authorities, and the Yunnan branch of the China
Pacific Insurance (company that provides the HEC insurance) would be essential.
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3.3.3. Human dimensions of human-elephant interactions
The top two research questions on the human dimensions of HEC were related to influencing
people’s behavior. The top priority question was how to motivate communities to participate
in HEC mitigation. This likely stems from a perception among participants that local
communities have little sense of ownership and agency on HEC mitigation. Some
participants suggested that the strong legal protection conferred on elephants in recent years
(e.g., with up to ten years of prison for killing an elephant; Chinese Criminal Law, Clause
341) has led local communities to feel disempowered and perceive HEC mitigation as the
government’s responsibility. Tang (2012) also suggested that the scope and implementation
of the current laws protecting biodiversity in Xishuangbanna should be modified (e.g., the
mechanisms for ecological compensation) to enhance the protection of minority communities
near the nature reserves (NR). Community participation is key to addressing conservation
conflicts (e.g., Redpath et al. 2013, Madden et al. 2014) and in China there is a need to find
ways to engage HEC-affected communities effectively. The second issue was somehow
related; it involved understanding people’s attitudes towards elephants. Chinese elephants
coexist with a diversity of ethnic minorities. Local communities’ attitudes towards elephants
are likely to be influenced by their culture, religion, and beliefs. Understanding attitudes can
be the starting point to understanding potentially effective interventions, particularly to
promote tolerance for elephants. For this purpose, it would be important to study the levels of
conflict (sensu Madden et al. 2014, Zimmermann et al. 2020) among different stakeholders,
people’s perceptions about elephants and the conflict itself, and local communities’ tolerance
towards HEC and the factors affecting this tolerance (e.g., Tan et al. 2020). The third
questions was perceived as a mid-term priority and was to understand how livelihood
changes affect elephant distribution in China. Traditional ‘slash and burning’ agricultural
practices in southeast Yunnan were probably beneficial for elephants by providing food in
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early-succession habitat patches. Since the 1980s, however, the region has undergone
dramatic socioeconomic changes, particularly with the expansion of rubber (Xu et al. 2014,
Liu et al. 2017b) and infrastructure development (Huang et al. 2020, Wang et al. 2020),
which inevitably led to a reduction in elephant range (despite the subsequent increase,
elephant range in China now is still smaller than in the 1980s) and increase in HEC.
Development will continue at a fast pace in the region (Huang et al. 2020). Understanding
how socioeconomical changes will affect elephant distribution and associated HEC in the
future is key to effectively managing range expansions and preventing potential range
collapses.
3.3.4. Elephant populations
As mentioned earlier––ecological carrying capacity is a major concern for elephant experts in
China, as is reflected in the fact that the same issue appeared at the top of two separate
themes. The situation in China is unusual within the Asian elephant range in that wild
elephants are expanding geographically and potentially in numbers (Zhang 2007, Zhang et al.
2015, Liu et al. 2017), which––although good news for conservation––brings great
challenges, such as the interaction of elephants with communities that were no longer
familiar with their presence, or severe HEC in highly fragmented landscapes (Wang et al.
2020). While in other Asian countries a major concern is to understand range declines, in
China a clear research priority is to understand the current and future potential expansion of
elephants’ range. The Chinese elephant population, nevertheless, is small in absolute
numbers and highly fragmented in space (Zhang 2007, Zhang et al. 2015). Small populations
face a higher risk of local extinction. Nangunhe’s small elephant population (Fig. 1; Liu et al.
2016, Hale et al. 2020), for example, has low viability, constrained by low genetic diversity
and inbreeding depression (Ying Chen et al. unpublished). In this context, understanding the
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genetic structure of the population––also a priority in this theme––could provide insights into
population sustainability and guide longer-term conservation decision-making.
3.3.5. Elephant habitats and resources
Two of the three top habitat research priorities were related to elephant habitat improvement,
and the remaining one was about assessing habitat quality (closely related to the carrying
capacity assessment mentioned in other themes). The elephant range in China is highly
fragmented. Even Xishuangbanna National NR (the PA with the highest number of elephants
in China) consists of five spatially separated ‘sub-reserves’ (Fig. 1) and many elephants roam
outside rather than inside of the PA borders. Elephants’ preferred heterogenous habitats can
be found both inside and outside the PAs (Zhang et al. 2015, Huang et al. 2019), which
brings the question of what kind of interventions could enhance habitat suitability inside PAs.
3.3.6. Policy and finance
This theme was created during the workshop upon discussion by the participants. The top
priority within this theme was related to the HEC compensation fund (see also section 3.4.8),
specifically to investigate its long-term feasibility and sustainability. China's revised Wildlife
Protection Law in 2016 (http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/china-new-
wildlifeprotection-law/) states that crop damage and other losses related to protecting national
and key wild animals should be compensated by the relevant municipal governments (Li et al.
2018). Since 2010, public liability insurance was piloted in Xishuangbanna for the first time
to use market means to ensure the security and safety of lives and property, representing a
shift from governmental compensation to insurance compensation (Li et al. 2018). Despite
some significant successes, it has some limitations, such as the slow on-site verification of
damage, the time-consuming payment process, and the unreasonable compensation amounts
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for some items (Chen et al. 2013, Chen et al. 2017). Thus, Chen et al. (2013) and Li et al.
(2018) put forward an insurance scheme and multi-source funds, based on the HEC risk
prediction throughout Xishuangbanna. More research is needed on how to engage local
participation and potential pitfalls in the implementation of the proposed scheme. Another
high priority issue was to conduct a policy assessment for elephant conservation. There are
likely to be important policy conflicts involving agriculture and infrastructure development
and elephant conservation. Another example of policy conflict discussed at the workshop was
that while habitat improvement within PAs (e.g., by opening forest gaps) was seen as a high
priority, such intervention is not allowed within PA core zones, where the policy establishes
strict protection and no human activity. The remaining top priority in this theme involved the
establishment of the new elephant NP, which is currently under review by Yunnan State
Forestry and Grassland Administration. Realistically, the issue about the new NP was ranked
as a mid-term priority.
3.3.7. Captive elephants
China has around 287 captive elephants (Zhang 2018). Recently, a new ‘Asian elephant
conservation and breeding center’ has been established with the purpose of rescuing wild
elephants, and captive-breeding as a safety net for future re-introductions to populate
declining or extirpated populations (http://yn.xinhuanet.com/hot/2019-
12/16/c_138635076.htm). The top priority for research on captive elephants was ‘how to
rewild them for future reintroduction?’. China has lost over 99% of its historical elephant
range (Elvin 2006), so elephant reintroductions could be carefully considered, provided there
is local support and suitable ecological conditions. There have been some successful
examples of Asian elephant reintroduction in other countries such as in Thailand (e.g.,
Thitaram et al. 2015, Thitaram et al. 2018) and Sri Lanka (Perera et al. 2018). Importantly,
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IUCN’s Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) has just published the guidelines for
rehabilitation of captive elephants as possible restocking for wild populations in Asia
(Thitaram et al. 2020). Given its human, financial, and technological capital, China could
play an important role in elephant rewilding experimentation in Asia. The other two priorities
in this theme were common issues with captive elephants, i.e., understanding their genetic
structure and welfare practices (Table 1).
3.3.8. Ethics
The ethics theme presented interesting issues. One of them was the definition of “problem
elephants”. Hoare (1999) defined “problem elephant” as “animals that extend their range into
human settlement, commonly to feed on a wide variety of cultivated food and cash crops but
also sometimes damaging food stores, water installations, or fences and barriers, and
occasionally injuring or killing people” and associated the concept to a segment of the male
elephant population in his study site in Kenya. Questions remain about the concept of
“problem elephant” and further research is necessary to understand the underlying
behavioural factors (Mumby & Plotknik 2018). Are certain elephants disproportionally
involved in HEC within a population? What makes an elephant become “problematic”? What
is the appropriate management for such individuals, if they exist? Another, related, priority
question was the impact of problem elephant removal (e.g., by means of translocation or
captivity) on other elephants in the population. Would some other elephants become
problematic? Would it result in social structure disruption? The third question was a
philosophical matter: where to draw the boundaries between human and elephant rights when
dealing with HEC? In China there is a particularly high human mortality for the small
number of elephants in the population (75 human deaths and 320 injuries in the past two
decades; Chen et al. 2019b), and apparently highly aggressive behavior by certain individual
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elephants (e.g., 18 elephants in Menghai-Lancang have killed 27 people since 2011; Wang et
al. 2020). This leads the media and public to attribute to elephants a human-like sense of
agency, intentionality, and responsibility over the conflict. It is important to note that,
throughout Asia, discussions about HEC mitigation generally refer to protecting people’s
interest, rather than elephants. Being explicit about a society’s tolerance levels for HEC is
very important.
3.3.9. Other research questions
Most of the research questions placed under ‘others’ could actually have fitted under one of
the previous themes. A number of “other research questions” were related to the use of
conservation technology (which would be a suitable theme for similar exercises in the future).
The use of GPS telemetry to study elephant movements was considered the top priority in
this section. There has been, to date, no detailed study on elephant ranging behavior in China.
It is possible to use alternative data sources (e.g., observations from drones and camera traps)
but, given the complexity of the landscapes that elephants inhabit, GPS telemetry would
provide the best quality data to understand elephants’ fine-scale use of space. Another
priority included studying public attitudes towards conservation (i.e., beyond elephants and
HEC). Another was to investigate the potential of wildlife-friendly products and business
models. The general public was perceived to be an important stakeholder to generate funds,
push for conservation actions, and particularly to pay for elephant-friendly goods. Chen et al.
(2013) found high willingness to pay for elephant conservation among visitors to ‘Wild
Elephant Valley’, a popular tourist attraction in Xishuangbanna. A better understanding and
assessment of public knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to support conservation would be
fundamental to designing engagement practices. The final priority in this section was to
investigate interspecific relations between elephants and other species. Elephants, as the
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largest animal in their ecosystems, have strong influences on ecosystem processes (e.g.,
Moleón et al. 2020) and influence other animals by modifying the vegetation structure and
composition (e.g., Terborgh et al. 2018), dispersing the seeds of many fleshy-fruited plants
(Campos-Arceiz & Blake 2011), creating microhabitats for small animals (Pringle 2008,
Campos-Arceiz 2009), or by mobilizing nutrients (Doughty et al. 2016). To date there has
been no study on how elephants influence other animals in China or neighboring countries.
3.4. Conservation priorities by theme
3.4.1. HEC mitigation and coexistence
HEC is the main threat for Asian elephant conservation and a grave social problem
throughout the species’ range (Fernando and Pastorini 2011). HEC mitigation in China is
largely based on early-warning systems and a financial compensation scheme, and this was
reflected in the suggested conservation priorities under this theme. Two of the three top
priorities related to the effectiveness of early-warning systems, pointing out that the most
pressing issue in terms of HEC mitigation is to reduce human casualties in high-intensity
conflict areas. Early warning systems used in China include the transmission of warning
acoustic messages through remotely triggered speakers as well as the automatic transmission
of phone messages via the social media app WeChat. From the end of 2019, a more
intelligent and complex Asian elephant monitoring and early warning system is being
installed and trialed in Xishuangbanna, funded by the State Forestry and Grassland
Administration and Yunnan’s provincial government (c. US$4.5 million). This system
includes 600 infrared-triggered cameras, 21 real-time surveillance cameras, 177 alarm
broadcasts, a monitoring and control center, and various supporting software systems. The
monitoring data will be connected with the big data center of Yunnan Province. The third top
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priority issue was using alternative crops, livelihoods, or production systems that lead to
lower conflict with elephants.
3.4.2. Habitat protection
Two of the top habitat protection priorities were related to the use of corridors to promote
landscape connectivity. One of the issues was a short-term priority (establishing ecological
corridors) and the other was a mid-term one (creating crossing facilities in linear
infrastructure). Much work has been done to identify locations for corridors to connect the
elephants’ fragmented habitats, and four corridors have been proposed (Fig. 1; Zhang et al.
2015). The challenge now––and a clear conservation priority––is to manage these corridors
for elephant use (i.e., moving from planning to implementation). Although the establishment
of ecological corridors was identified as a short-term priority, its implementation could be
considered a mid- or long-term priority, as experience in other range countries shows (e.g.,
Johnsingh & Williams 1999, de la Torre et al. 2019). Regarding linear infrastructure, much
work has been and continues to be done by China’s Ministry of Transport to protect elephant
habitat and minimize the negative impacts of infrastructure. For instance, a 13-km-long
tunnel was built under Xishuangbanna NR, to protect the vegetation and topography on the
surface (Wu & Zheng 2016), and 25 wildlife crossing structures were developed to facilitate
elephant movement along the Simao-Xiaomengyang expressway which cuts directly through
Xishuangbanna NR. Wildlife crossing structure monitoring suggests that elephants do use
these structures (e.g., Pan et al. 2009, Wang et al. unpublished; Fig. 6). Infrastructure
construction has also been strictly managed to mitigate or avoid disturbance to elephants,
including keeping construction sites away from sensitive habitats, adjustment of construction
times, and restriction of human access during the construction stage (Liu et al. 2018). Alert
signs and dynamic monitoring equipment have also been installed along roads to maintain
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traffic safety as soon as the infrastructure is operating (Wang et al. 2019d). The other top
priority in this theme was habitat management to enhance suitability for elephants.
3.4.3. Management Actions
The top issue in this theme was the creation of the new elephant NP. The current elephant
range in China covers an estimated area of ~7000 km2. Since 1985, Xishuangbanna
Prefecture has established a network of Nature Reserves (NR) covering a total area of 3528
km2 (Chen et al. 2019b). Additionally, a new Asian elephant NP is currently being planned,
aiming to cover an area of tropical forest of ~4000 km2. The total size of the proposed PA
system in China’s elephant range is 5619 km2, including the proposed NP, the existing NRs,
and some corridors connecting them (there is spatial overlap between NP and NRs; Chen et al.
2019b). The other issues included the establishment of corridors and creating gaps for
elephant foraging in the forests (Table 1). Both issues had already appeared in previous
research and conservation themes, highlighting their perceived relevance among Chinese
elephant conservation experts.
3.4.4. Anti-poaching and IWT
Elephants are highly protected in China and, although poaching occurred in Nangunhe and
Xishuangbanna at the beginning of the 21st century (Zhang et al. 2015), it does not seem to be
happening in recent years. In contrast, demand in China has played a central role in the
international illegal ivory trade (e.g. Nijman & Shepherd 2012, Gao & Clark 2014, Yu et al.
2017). However, the 2018 ban on the domestic ivory trade, as well as other enforcement
measures by Chinese authorities, seem to be working to reduce domestic demand for ivory in
China (Zhou et al. 2018). In our exercise, there was some overlap between the priorities
under this theme. The top priority was the establishment of multi-sectorial law enforcement
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mechanisms. The second priority was to strengthen and diversify conservation marketing
messages. For instance, recent research shows that citizens in China have relatively low
understanding of the ivory-labelling system used to regulate manufacturers, retailers, and
ivory products (Xie 2020). In this case, targeted messaging to consumers could help bridge
the knowledge gap between policy and citizens affected by it. The final priority was to use
social media to monitor wildlife trade, since much of the illegal wildlife trade is now
happening online (Yu & Jia 2015). For instance, international NGOs (e.g. WCS, TRAFFIC,
and IFAW) conduct regular monitoring of the trade on platforms like WeChat, Weibo, and
Baidu Post Bar. China can play an important role in monitoring the global ivory trade and
supporting the implementation of international elephant population monitoring mechanisms
such as CITES’ Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants program (MIKE;
https://cites.org/eng/prog/mike/index.php).
3.4.5. Outreach and education
Social marketing is considered a key tool to create tolerance and to transform conservation
conflicts (Verissimo et al. 2019). Priorities in this theme involved communication, education,
and public awareness (CEPA) addressed to different types of stakeholders and through
different channels. The first priority was to conduct CEPA activities with local communities
sharing space with elephants. Their tolerance is key, since without it elephants cannot survive
in a landscape. During the workshop discussion, participants emphasized the importance of
educational programs targeting local students, who are effective messengers to disseminate
HEC safety protocols and will play a key role in the future of human-elephant interactions
within the community. The second priority was the use of television and social media for
HEC-related CEPA activities. Social media platforms such as WeChat and TikTok are
extremely popular in China and can help reach many people. In other countries,
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conservationist have made use of SMS, radio, or television (e.g., Kumar & Raghunathan
2019) to inform people in real time about the whereabouts of elephants when they enter
villages and plantations. Educating the public living outside the elephant range was perceived
by workshop participants to be important to generate resources across the society, in addition
to its educational value. Finally, the third priority was reaching out to decision-makers,
particularly, spreading the message of elephant conservation and HEC mitigation among non-
conservation government agencies such as agriculture, finance, and customs. Linking with
the previous theme (anti-poaching and illegal wildlife trade), social marketing could be used
to reduce the domestic demand for illegal elephant parts, especially among Chinese tourists
traveling overseas (Meijer et al. 2018), and to better communicate the 2018 ivory ban in
China.
3.4.6. Training
Two very specific issues and a very general one were identified under the training theme. The
specific issues had to do with training vulnerable stakeholders about safety in the presence of
elephants. First, local communities and other vulnerable stakeholders should be trained on
how to adequately respond to HEC early-warning systems. Second, people spending time in
the forest and high-risk areas should be trained to understand elephant behavior and
movement patterns to reduce the risk of encounter and knowing how to react in case of
unexpectedly meeting elephants. In the group discussion, the importance of turning from
passive to proactive responses to HEC was emphasized, particularly for these vulnerable
groups. The third priority was building capacity in government agencies, mostly officers in
non-conservation agencies (e.g., agriculture, transportation, or finance departments) on issues
related to elephant conservation and HEC. Although not discussed during the workshop,
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some of the participating organizations (IFAW) are developing training programs on eco-
friendly alternative livelihoods for communities affected by HEC (Dafan Cao, pers. comm.).
3.4.7. Funding and resource allocation
Two of the top priorities regarding funding and resources were closely related, i.e., allocating
funding to (a) train and (b) support rangers working in the elephant range. Supporting rangers
means providing appropriate equipment, social welfare benefits, and fair salaries. The third
priority was again related to HEC early-warning, i.e., providing resources to implement an
effective system. Some of the existing early-warning systems have been developed as the
initiative of particular individuals, at high personal expense in time and resources. It is
notable that two issues related to ecosystem services were not considered to have high
priority, even though payment for ecosystem services (PES) is often recognized as a crucial
mechanism for tackling the conflict between conservation and development (Bateman et al.
2013, Jack et al. 2018), suggesting lack of familiarity with this concept among the
stakeholders involved in this exercise. Two specific issues were brought up in this theme,
including the accounting mechanism for ecosystem service values of elephants, and the eco-
payment mechanism for enterprises benefiting from elephant habitats (Table S1). Liu et. al
(2019) assessed the realized value of ecosystem services provided by a sub-reserve of
Xishuangbanna NR, and emphasized the potential payments from multi-scale beneficiaries,
which will help optimize the current allocation system of funds based on the PES framework.
3.4.8. Law, regulation, policies
Two of the top priority issues under law, regulation, and policies had to do with the HEC
compensation fund, i.e., implementing proposed improvements to the scheme (e.g. Chen et al.
2013, Li et al. 2018) and increasing the funding amount. The focus of these priority issues
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was to improve the implementation of existing policies. Chen et al. (2013) suggested ways to
improve the funding mechanism through timely and fair compensations. The third priority
issue in this theme was to increase the relevance and support for research activities.
Specifically, participants in the workshop considered that more research funding should be
available for academic institutions and NGOs.
3.4.9. Transboundary and transdisciplinary collaboration
This theme was decided during the workshop and it contained fewer issues––just three––than
other themes (Fig. 4). The clear priority in this theme was the establishment of platforms for
collaboration across government agencies, something that also appeared as a high priority
within communications (section 3.4.5). Multiple government agencies (e.g., China Academy
of Transportation Sciences, Institute of Survey and Design, Forestry and Grassland Bureau––
at district, province, and state level––and elephant range National Nature Reserves) were
present at the workshop and participated very actively in the discussions. The second priority
was the establishment of the ‘Asian elephant conservation union’, an informal platform to
promote expert communication about elephant conservation. Finally, identified as a long-
term priority, was the maintenance and establishment of new international platforms for
collaboration, particularly with neighboring Lao PDR and Myanmar. Connectivity restoration
between elephant populations in Nangunhe (Fig. 1) and northern Myanmar is vital to ensure
the long-term persistence of Nangunhe’s small isolated population (Liu et al. 2016).
Fortunately, transboundary conservation between Yunnan (China) and Luang Namtha and
Phongsaly (Lao PDR) has been promoted since 2006, with annual meetings between both
sides and an area of ~2000 km2 along 220 km of frontier designated for joint monitoring and
biodiversity conservation (Wang et al. 2015). This sets a good example for potential
transboundary collaboration between China and Myanmar, as well as other range countries
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targeting for joint Asian elephant conservation. Fragmentation is likely to increase
throughout Asian elephants’ range and transboundary conservation efforts will be key for the
long-term protection of the species. At broader scale, IUCN’s Asian Elephant Specialist
Group, the Asian elephant Range States meetings, and the Convention on Migratory Species,
where Asian elephants are included in the Appendix I, are good platforms for international
collaboration and knowledge exchange.
3.5. General remarks and way forward
We were able to produce a multi-sectorial and multi-stakeholder set of ranked and timelined
priorities that can guide research and conservation work on Chinese elephants in the coming
years. First, we want to highlight the diversity of participants in this exercise and their
positive engagement in the process. Besides the tangible list of priorities, a very important
outcome of our exercise has been the creation of a platform for communication among
stakeholders––an issue that was highlighted as one of the priorities (section 3.4.9) to improve
the effectiveness of elephant conservation efforts. Exercises like this cannot be a one-off
effort and rather require long-term engagement. In our case, we held a first informal meeting
in March 2017, which helped gain trust and develop personal relationships among
stakeholders. Following the prioritization workshop in June 2019, we created a bilingual
WeChat group that at the time of writing (December 2020) remains active and where people
involved in China’s elephant research and conservation regularly exchange informal
information. We hope this and other channels will help the relevant stakeholders to access the
outputs of this exercise and share them further with previously unengaged stakeholders.
Ultimately, the momentum from this prioritizing exercise presents an opportunity for the
development of a national elephant conservation action plan for China.
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Second, our list of priorities showed some general trends that transcend specific
research and conservation themes, with some issues appearing under several research and
conservation themes. In the research themes, recurrent issues included elephant carrying
capacity and habitat improvement, understanding elephant movement patterns and range
expansion, understanding HEC causes and identifying ways to improve the HEC financial
compensation mechanisms, and finding ways to better engage local communities in HEC
mitigation. In the conservation themes, the most recurrent issues had to do with engaging
communities and key stakeholders, improving early-warning systems and the financial
compensation scheme, the creation of the new elephant national park, and developing
mechanisms to mainstream and improve communications, collaboration, and coordination
among key stakeholders.
Finally, 86% of the priorities we compiled were classified as relevant in the short-
term horizon (1-3 years). This suggests that although our exercise was effective in identifying
current pressing issues, we may have failed to capture longer-term research and conservation
priorities. Given the complex nature of elephant conservation and the large scale socio-
economic changes that southwest China will undergo in coming decades, we encourage the
network of elephant researchers and conservationists to conduct a follow-up horizon-scan
exercise (Sutherland et al. 2019) to identify emerging and unforeseen issues that will become
important for elephant conservation in years to come.
Despite the many challenges, the ongoing apparently positive trend in elephant
population numbers coupled with strong political will and relatively high human, financial,
and technical capacity for elephant conservation make it feasible for China to effectively
conserve its relatively small wild Asian elephant population (less than 1% of the global
population). It is likely that even in the best-case scenario, these elephants will always live in
highly fragmented habitats in very close contact with people, and hence under some degree of
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HEC. Mitigating this conflict to tolerable levels and maintaining relatively large areas of
connected elephant habitat are therefore key for the long-term survival of wild Chinese
elephants.
Acknowledgements
We thank Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) for hosting the two-day
workshop and providing a visiting professorship to ACA, and XTBG’s Biodiversity Research
Group for funding the workshop and the travel of some participants. YW and LG were
supported by the national level fund of scientific research institutes (Grant No. 20200609)
and the Science and Technology Demonstration Project of the Ministry of Transport of China
(Grant No. 2016 002). PL and FYZ were supported by the National Nature Science
Foundation of China (31801986) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
(2018M631372) to PL. KS, YC, and YS were supported by the Second National Survey of
Terrestrial Wildlife in China, National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China. CH
was supported by the Open Project (GREKF20-03) of State Key Laboratory of Genetic
Resource and Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We are also grateful to
Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserves, Nangunhe National Nature Reserves, and the
Forestry and Grassland Administration of Yunnan, Xishuangbanna and Pu’er for their
participation and important contribution to the workshop; to Shurui Zhang for generously
documenting the workshop and producing educational film material; to Liping Zhou, Yi
Yang, and Nan Sun for their help organizing and running of the workshop; and to Professor
Jin Chen for useful feedback on the manuscript.
Authors contribution statement: SC and ACA conceptualised the work; SC, MXZ, RTC,
and ACA planned and organised the online survey and workshop; all co-authors contributed
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significantly to the process of data generation through the online survey and/or the workshop;
SC and ACA analysed the data and led the writing of the first draft; GZS, YW, CH, YC, PL,
YD, DFC, RTC, and KS provided major contributions to the text and contents; all other co-
authors provided feedback and minor suggestions to the text and contents. For those co-
authors who cannot read English, SC provided an oral explanation of the contents of the
manuscript and they were able to provide oral feedback as appropriate.
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Figure Legends
Figure 1. Elephant distribution in China. Black arrows represent proposed corridors to
connect populations. PA = protected area; CY = Changyuan; MHLC = Menghai-Lancang;
SMG = Simaogang; YX = Yunxian; LS = Liushun; JC = Jiangcheng; MY = Mengyang; ML
= Mengla; SY = Shangyong.
Figure 2. Biennial research output in English on Asian elephants (a) globally and (b) in
China. Figure obtained from Web of Science (details in Appendix S1).
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Figure 3. Workflow of steps taken to generate, prioritize, and analyze priority research
questions and conservation issues for Chinese elephants.
Figure 4. Within theme distribution of research questions and conservation issues, including
the original suggestions obtained from an online survey (blue) and the consolidated and
polished list (red). HEC = human-elephant conflict; HEI = human-elephant interactions; IWT
= illegal wildlife trade.
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Figure 5. Distribution of priority votes per issue within themes. Each participant was allowed
to cast up to three priority votes within each theme (except for the ‘transboundary and
transdisciplinary’ theme, in which they could cast only one). Each blue dot represents the
number of votes received for one issue; the red dots represent the mean and the red line the
standard deviation of the number of votes per theme. HEC= human-elephant conflict; HEI =
human-elephant interactions; IWT = illegal wildlife trade.
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Figure 6. Elephants are using wildlife crossing structures to cross the Simao-Xiaomengyang
expressway in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. Photo credit: Yun Wang.
Table 1. Top three research and conservation priorities for Asian elephants in China as
identified in a multi-stakeholder and multi-sectorial workshop. Light grey shade indicates
mid-term priorities; dark grey indicates long-term priorities.
Research Theme
Issue
Within-
theme
rank
Within
theme
priority
score
Timeline
Elephant biology,
behavior, and
ecology
Elephant carrying capacity
#1
14.3
Short
Factors influencing elephant
migration
#2
11.4
Short
Habitat selection
#3
11.4
Short
Understanding
and mitigating
HEC
HEC causes
#1
22.2
Short
Feasibility of improving
compensation scheme
#2
10.0
Short
Land planning for elephant habitat
and human residence
#3
8.9
Short
Elephant
Elephant carrying capacity
#1
19.8
Short
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populations
Population range expansion
#2
16.8
Short
Population genetic diversity
#3
11.9
Mid
Elephant habitats
and resources
Habitat quality assessment
#1
19.4
Short
Ways to creating potential habitats
#2
13.9
Short
Habitat Management
#3
11.1
Short
Human
dimensions of
HEC
Motivation mechanism of effective
community participation
#1
21.7
Short
Attitudes towards elephants
#2
17.0
Short
Impact of historical livelihood
changes on HEC distribution
#3
15.1
Mid
Policy and finance
Feasibility of compensation fund
#1
27.8
Short
Range and zoning of elephant NP
#2
19.4
Mid
Policy assessment for elephant
research and conservation
#3
17.6
Short
Elephants in
captivity
Rewilding of captive elephants
#1
15.7
Long
Genetic diversity
#2
11.8
Short
Animal welfare
#3
10.8
Short
Ethics
Impact of problem elephant capture
on other individuals
#1
17.5
Short
Defining a problem elephant
#2
16.5
Short
Balance between human and
elephant rights
#3
15.5
Short
Others
Public attitudes and participation in
conservation
#1
11.2
Short
GPS telemetry
#1
11.2
Short
Wildlife-friendly products and
models
#3
10.1
Short
Interspecific relations between
elephant and other species in the
same region
#3
10.1
Mid
Conservation Theme
Issue
Within-
theme
rank
Within
theme
priority
score
Timeline
HEC and coexistence
Community-participatory early
warning system
#1
15.7
Short
Timely early-warning
messages
#2-I
11.8
Short
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Changing/adjusting crop
types/plantation structure
#2-II
11.8
Short
Habitat protection
Habitat optimization and
transformation
#1
14.6
Short
Developing ecological
corridors
#2
13.6
Short
Adding passing corridors to
linear transport infrastructures
#3
11.7
Mid
Management actions
Establishment of National Park
#1
15.6
Short
Establishing corridors
#2
13.5
Mid
Creating 'windows' in
Protected Areas
#3
11.5
Short
Anti-poaching &
IWT
Multi-sectorial joint law
enforcement mechanism
#1
19.8
Short
Strengthen and diversify
publicity
#2
18.9
Short
Social media to strengthen
product monitoring and
inventory
#3
16.0
Short
Outreach &
education
CEPA in elephant areas and
surrounding communities
#1
21.0
Short
CEPA through social media,
TV, and Internet
#2
21.0
Short
Improve conservation
awareness of decision makers
#3
17.0
Short
Training
Early-warning evacuation
training
#1
15.5
Short
Training for relevant
government departments
#2
14.6
Short
Self-rescue training for
monitors, rangers and villagers
#3
12.6
Short
Funding and
resource allocation
Improve security of rangers
and monitoring staff
#1
25.7
Short
Increase input of monitoring
and early warning
#2
11.9
Short
Increase investment in training
of rangers
#3
10.9
Short
Policy, governance,
institutions, and laws
Increase compensation for
economic losses
#1
11.1
Short
Increase investment and
support of research funds for
conservation
#1
11.1
Short
Implementation of HEC
#2
10.1
Short
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compensation fund
Transboundary and
transdisciplinary
Establishing collaboration
platforms among agencies and
institutions
#1
43.5
Short
Establishing China's Asian
Elephant Conservation Union
#2
34.8
Short
Conservation and cooperation
mechanism across regions and
countries
#3
21.7
Long
Declaration of interests
☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be
considered as potential competing interests:
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