• Girikaran.P
• Ramakrishnan.B
• Sivasubramanian.G

The population of elephants has been affected adversely by a growing human population and the resultant destruction of natural habitats for settlement and cultivation. Besides habitat loss, the large-scale capture of elephants in the past also caused its decline. Thus, the Asian elephant has suffered due to enormous loss of its habitat and continued captured for taming over a 4000-year period in human history. The genetically effective population size may also decrease due to another demographic factor of skewing of the sex ratio of reproducing males and females, the more unequal the sex ratio the lower the effective population size. A total of 1227 individuals were sighted in 413 elephant sightings in Bitherkadu Forest Range between January, 2022 and December, 2023. Of which, a greater number of elephants were sighted in the month of August (n=52) followed by May (n=46) and July (n=52). The study revealed minimum number of elephants were sighted in the month of December (n=21). Out of 1227 individuals most of them were female led family individuals (n=1053) and solitary individuals (both tuskers and makhnas) (n=174) during the study period.

Spatial movement, Asian Elephant, Elephans maximus, Bitherkad Forest Range, Gudalur Forest Division

"Spatio – Temporal Movement of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Bitherkadu Forest Range of Gudalur Forest Division, Tamil Nadu.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 11, page no.e115-e124, November-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2411417.pdf

"Spatio – Temporal Movement of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) in Bitherkadu Forest Range of Gudalur Forest Division, Tamil Nadu.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 11, page no. ppe115-e124, November-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2411417.pdf