Message from the Chair

Dear Friends,

I welcome you to the website of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. We are a group of voluntary specialists; ecologists, veterinarians, social scientists, conservationists and managers who specialise in the Asian elephant. We have come together with a mission to foster the conservation and welfare of our focal species and help keep this magnificent creature, the largest living terrestrial Asian being living constraint-free and wild for future generations. When the animal is held captive, due to a variety of reasons, it is our duty also to ensure its welfare.

Towards this, the AsESG will promote policies, guidelines, action plans and if need be catalyse action with governments and civil society around the range. Many of our members also work actively in conservation, welfare and research projects across the globe to ensure this actually happens. As a catalytic group our purpose is to put into the public sphere the very best science and conservation techniques that can assist governments, civil society and the common man to protect and preserve elephants and conserve their landscape.

Since I took over as the Chair in mid-2016, it is my endeavour to reach out to as many of you as possible to help or assist this group reach its mandate. You can do that by joining if you are an elephant Specialist and volunteering to do many of the tasks we assign our members. Or you can help fund the work of the group. Or you could just spread the message of elephant conservation and point people to this website which I hope will be a ‘go-to’ site on elephant information, action plans and conservation guidelines

Regards

Vivek Menon
Chair AsESG IUCN SSC
ED & CEO, Wildlife Trust of India