A preliminary study on the utilization of artificial saltpetre ponds by the Asian elephant

As an important place for Asian elephants to obtain salt in the wild environment, saltpetre ponds are of great significance to the survival of Asian elephants.From June 2019 to August 2020, we used infrared camera to monitor the artificial saltpetre pond.Monitoring results show that:many animals visited the artificial saltpetre ponds including Asian elephants.Asian elephants visited the artificial saltpetre ponds 20 times.The number of visits to No.1 to No.4 saltpetre ponds was 1, 0, 9 and 10 times respectively.The main time periods for Asian elephants in artificial pond were 2:00-9:00 and 16:00-22:00.The total visiting time of Asian elephants was 246min, the total visiting time of group elephants was 108min and male elephants was 138min.The average visiting time of group elephants was 21.6min and male elephants was 9.2min.The average residence time of the group elephants was longer in the artificial saltpetre ponds, which may be due to the females' need to supplement more salt and minerals during the breeding and feeding periods.The activities of Asian elephants in the artificial pond are mainly concentrated in the morning and dusk period, which is related to the influence of human activities.Artificial saltpetre pond can supplement natural nitrate pond to some extent.In the actual protection work, the location of artificial saltpetre pond is the key to wildlife utilization, which should be combined with habitat, food source, water source.