Wild corridors
Land Bridges Between Herds
Wild elephant populations are islands — cut off by farms, highways, and plantations. Corridors reconnect them. See also the Range Map for geographic context.
Five high-priority land bridges across the range. Hectare figures are estimates from published project reports.
Terai Arc Landscape Corridor
India / Nepal · ~850 elephants
An 810km forest landscape connecting protected areas across the India-Nepal border. Would reunite three genetically isolated elephant populations in the Terai.
Genetics
Fecal DNA studies in the Terai have identified distinct matrilines on either side of the border — corridor connection would restore gene flow documented in pre-fragmentation samples.
Who's working on it
Status: Active — partial securing through community forestry and land purchase
Kui Buri Forest Corridor
Thailand · ~320 elephants
Connects Kui Buri National Park to Kaeng Krachan. Elephants need this route for seasonal water access; pineapple plantations block both flanks.
Genetics
Kui Buri's ~320 elephants are genetically distinct from the larger Kaeng Krachan population. DNP fecal sampling programs monitor both herds separately.
Who's working on it
Status: Community land purchase negotiations ongoing
Bukit Tigapuluh Wildlife Corridor
Indonesia · ~180 elephants
The last forest bridge between two Sumatran elephant populations in Riau and Jambi provinces. Genetic isolation is already measurable.
Genetics
Way Kambas/Lampung herd shows critically low heterozygosity. Without this corridor, effective breeding population may be below viability within 2–3 elephant generations.
Who's working on it
Status: Critical — palm oil concessions threaten remaining forest bridge
Western Ghats Elephant Corridor
India · ~1,200 elephants
India has identified 88 elephant corridors in the Western Ghats. The Periyar-Agasthyamalai link is among the most important for India's largest tusker population.
Genetics
Long-term fecal DNA monitoring shows male dispersal across corridors when intact — and genetic bottlenecks when blocked by estates.
Who's working on it
Status: Partially secured — 88 corridors identified, varying protection levels
Cardamom Mountain Corridor
Cambodia / Thailand · ~250 elephants
Cross-border forest through the Cardamom Mountains. One of the last routes connecting Cambodia's shrinking elephant population with Thailand's western forests.
Genetics
Cambodia's wild elephant population is small and isolated. Genetic connectivity with Thailand's western populations has not been confirmed in decades.
Who's working on it
Status: Community forest agreements in progress; dam threats active
Two systems, one goal
Microchips, Blood DNA & Fecal DNA
Thailand runs one of the most developed captive elephant ID systems in Asia. Wild monitoring uses different tools. They're often confused — here's how they actually differ.
Blood DNA (Captive / Regulatory)
Government registration, parentage verification, anti-trafficking enforcement.
- + High DNA yield
- + Reliable genotyping
- + Required for legal compliance in Thailand
- − Invasive — requires vet and restraint
- − Stressful for elephant
- − Not suitable for wild monitoring
When government vet teams visit camps (including places like WFFT or tourist facilities), they're usually collecting blood for the national DNA registry — not research on your behalf.
Fecal DNA (Wild / Research)
Wild population surveys, corridor use, dispersal tracking, inbreeding assessment — without ever touching the animal.
- + Completely non-invasive
- + Works for wild elephants
- + Maps migration and gene flow
- − DNA degrades quickly in tropical heat
- − Needs fresh samples and careful lab work
- − Genotyping errors (allelic dropout) can inflate population counts if markers are insufficient
This is the science behind corridor prioritization — proving a bull crossed 80km of farmland, or that two isolated herds haven't shared genes in three generations.
Microchip (ID Only)
Individual identification linked to paperwork. Not genetics — just a unique number.
- + Quick field ID
- + Links to registration database
- + Standard across ASEAN discussions
- − Chips can be transferred between elephants (documented problem in Thailand)
- − Says nothing about genetics, health, or wild origin without paired DNA
- − Doesn't work for wild elephants you can't approach
Thailand reportedly had more registered microchips than living elephants at one point — which is why DNA was layered on top. Chip alone isn't enough.
Thailand & ASEAN
Registration & DNA Systems
What's actually in place — and who holds the data.
Thai Microchip Registry
Government onlyIdentify individual captive elephants and link them to registration papers — primarily to prevent wild calves from being laundered into tourism with fake captive-born documentation.
- Method
- RFID microchip implanted in the right shoulder, linked to a government registration card.
- Scope
- ~3,800+ microchips registered for ~2,900 documented captive elephants (discrepancy itself flagged fraud concerns).
Held by the Department of Livestock Development (DLD). Not searchable by the public.
Thai Captive Elephant DNA Registry
Government onlyVerify parentage and origin of captive elephants. Used to catch cases where camps claim wild-caught juveniles are captive-born — DNA proved mismatches have already been documented.
- Method
- Blood samples analyzed for microsatellite DNA fingerprints. Parentage verified against claimed mother/father.
- Scope
- Mandatory for captive elephants since 2017 legislation. ~99% of documented captive population enrolled by late 2010s.
Government enforcement database. Universities (Kasetsart, Chiang Mai) analyze samples but the master registry is not public.
Wild Elephant Genetics (Fecal DNA)
Research / study-specificTrack wild herds without disturbing them — individual identification, family structure, migration routes, inbreeding risk, corridor use.
- Method
- Non-invasive fecal sampling along migration routes. Microsatellite genotyping creates genetic fingerprints from dung.
- Scope
- Fragmented projects across range states. No unified public database exists.
Individual study datasets sometimes published on Dryad or in papers. No live public portal to query wild herd genetics.
ASEAN Captive Elephant Registry (proposed)
Not built yetCross-border standardized registration with microchips, DNA, and photo ID — to combat illegal trade across range states.
- Method
- Microchip + DNA + photographic identification, shared via centralized database.
- Scope
- Proposed by FAO and Asian Elephant Specialist Group. Indonesia piloting via Asian Elephant SAFE / Species360.
Does not fully exist yet. No public ASEAN-wide searchable registry as of 2025.
Who runs it
Thailand's Elephant Agencies
Department of Livestock Development (DLD)
Microchip implantation, health monitoring, movement permits, DNA sample collection for captive elephants.
Department of Provincial Administration
Registration of domesticated elephants under the Draught Animals Act (1939). Issues ownership papers.
Department of National Parks (DNP)
Wild elephant protection, DNA sampling of wild populations, anti-trafficking enforcement.
National Elephant Institute (NEI), Lampang
Government facility for confiscated/unregistered elephants. Royal white elephant tradition. Mahout training school.
Chiang Mai University — Center of Elephant and Wildlife Health ↗
Elephant Genetics in Thailand project. Blood and fecal DNA analysis. Research partnerships with camps.
How it works
From Dung Pile to Conservation Decision
Field Collection
Rangers or researchers identify fresh dung piles along known migration routes, or vets collect blood at registered camps during government compliance visits.
Lab Analysis
Samples genotyped at university labs (Kasetsart, Chiang Mai) using microsatellite markers — 10–20+ loci to fingerprint individuals.
Parentage & Identity
For captive elephants: DNA matched against claimed parents to catch laundering. For wild: individual IDs built over time from repeated fecal samples.
Conservation Use
Findings inform corridor purchases, identify genetically isolated herds, guide anti-trafficking cases — but mostly stay in government or academic systems, not public dashboards.
The honest part
What's Public vs. Locked Away
This is the gap most people don't know about. The science exists; the dashboards don't.
| Data type | Held by | Public? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microchip numbers & registration cards | DLD / Interior Ministry | No | Operational government data. Used for enforcement, not research. |
| Captive DNA fingerprints (parentage) | DLD + universities | No | Proved trafficking cases internally. Not released as open data. |
| Wild fecal DNA genotypes | DNP + research labs | No | Study-by-study. Some published, no central query system. |
| Published research genotypes | Universities / Dryad / GenBank | Yes | Tied to specific papers. Searchable on Dryad, NCBI, Semantic Scholar. |
| Species360 / zoo records | Zoos & some ASEAN pilots | No | Institutional access only. Indonesia enhancing national registry. |
| Corridor & habitat GIS layers | WWF, NGOs, governments | Partial | Some WWF/GFW layers public. Fine-scale corridor maps often restricted. |
What you can actually read
Published Research & Open Datasets
Kasetsart University et al. (2022)
Microsatellite genotyping of 158 captive elephants across NEI, Maetaeng, and Baan Chang camps. Genotype data deposited on Dryad. Focused on breeding line certification.
Chiang Mai University / Kasetsart (PMC, 2025) (2025)
Develops standardized microsatellite panels for blood and fecal samples. Argues Thailand needs a comprehensive reference database — which doesn't yet exist publicly.
Srikulnath et al. (2022)
One of the few open genotype datasets from Thai captive elephants. Linked to MDPI sustainability paper on gene pool legislation.
What doesn't exist yet
- —No public website where you can look up an elephant's DNA profile or microchip number.
- —No live 'sponsor a kit and track your herd' portal — that's a concept, not a product anyone ships today.
- —No unified ASEAN database across all 13 range states.
- —Wild fecal DNA data is powerful but fragmented — published study by study, not queryable in real time.
The science is real and the government infrastructure in Thailand is further along than most countries. The gap is transparency and public access — which is exactly why corridors and genetics deserve more attention than they get.