Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

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Summary

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• Western Hoolock Gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) are present in the Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range.
• The total population size is unknown.
• The population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 1755 km².
• Key threats to gibbons are logging and hunting.
• Conservation activities have focused on biomonitoring and patrolling the area.

Site characteristics

Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range © Naw May Lay Thant

The site is located in western Myanmar (Burma), inland of the Bay of Bengal.

Table 1. Basic site information for Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Area	1755 km²
Coordinates	17.623991, 94.840521
Designation	Wildlife Sanctuary
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical/tropical moist montane forest, arable land, Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The current population status is unknown, but gibbons are present based on community and survey team information (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Species	Year	Total number indiv. (95% CI)	Total number groups (95% CI)	Density ​​[groups/km²​] (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Hoolock hoolock	2008	4	1	0.53	southern Rakhine Yoma	Fixed-point triangulation	Geissmann et al. 2009	The survey area was located in a small mountain ridge facing the Bay of Bengal adjacent to Taing Kyo village and, further inland, Chaung Tha village in Thandwe district, Gwa township in Rakhine division.

Threats

Gibbons are mainly threatened by habitat loss due to logging (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present, severity unknown		Cultivation of rice and other agricultural cash crops and subsistence crops encroaching the site due to lack of demarcation (Geissmann et al. 2009).	2008-Ongoing(2023)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity unknown	0.19 signs/km, calculated from SMART data from both inside and outside (southern part of PA) of Rakhine (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).	Hunting targeting mainly wild pigs and red muntjacs, but other wildlife get trapped in snares (Geissmann et al. 2009)	2008-Ongoing (2023)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High	0.44 signs/km, calculated from SMART data from both inside and outside (southern part of PA) of Rakhine (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).	Timber extraction for income and fuelwood (Geissmann et al. 2009).	2009-Ongoing (2023)
	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	Present, but threat severity unknown		Extraction of NTFPs such as bamboo for construction and medicinal plants (Geissmann et al. 2009).	2009-Ongoing (2023)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather	11.4 Storms & flooding	High		A cyclone in 2005 caused a lot of destruction of the forest in the site (Geissmann et al. 2009).	2005
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division & Wildlife Conservation Society (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).	2014-2020
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Biodiversity Fund, Rakhine Coastal Conservation Association & Community (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).	2021-Ongoing (2023)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site has been a protected area since 2002.	2002-Ongoing (2023)
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Challenge	Source
Lack of law enforcement	Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023
Lack of financial means	Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023

Research activities

In addition to a 2008 gibbon and biodiversity survey and training in southern Rakhine Yoma by Myanmar Primate Conservation Program, BANCA, FFI, PRCF and Yangon University, a project for community hoolock gibbon monitoring and protection, funded by Arcus Gibbon Foundation, Myanmar Biodiversity Fund and Rakhine Coastal Conservation Association, is taking place between 2021 and 2024 (Naw May Lay Thant pers. obs. 2023).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Geissmann, T., Grindley, M., Momberg, F., Lwin, N., & Moses, S. (2009). Hoolock gibbon and biodiversity survey and training in southern Rakhine Yoma, Myanmar. Gibbon Journal, (5), 7-27.

Page completed by: Naw May Lay Thant & A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 10/11/2023