<P> In Nepal's Bardia National Park, elephants consume large amounts of the floodplain grass, particularly during the monsoon season . They browse more in the dry season with bark constituting a major part of their diet in the cool part of that season . During a study in a tropical moist mixed deciduous forested area of 160 km (62 sq mi) in Assam, elephants were observed to feed on about 20 species of grasses, plants and trees . Grasses such as Imperata cylindrica and Leersia hexandra constituted by far the most predominant component of their diet . </P> <P> The movement and habitat utilisation patterns of an elephant population were studied in southern India during 1981--83 within a 1,130 km (440 sq mi) study area . The vegetation types of this area encompasses dry thorn forest at 250 to 400 m (820 to 1,310 ft), deciduous forest at 400 to 1,400 m (1,300 to 4,600 ft), stunted evergreen forest and grassland at 1,400 to 1,800 m (4,600 to 5,900 ft). Five different elephant clans, each consisting of between 50 and 200 individuals had home ranges of between 105 km (41 sq mi) and 320 km (120 sq mi), which overlapped . They preferred habitat where water was available and food plants were palatable . During the dry months of January to April, they congregated at high densities of up to five individuals per km in river valleys where browse plants had a much higher protein content than the coarse tall grasses on hill slopes . With the onset of rains in May, they dispersed over a wider area at lower densities, largely into the tall grass forests, to feed on the fresh grasses, which then had a high protein value . During the second wet season from September to December, when the tall grasses became fibrous, they moved into lower elevation short grass open forests . The normal movement pattern could be upset during years of adverse environmental conditions . However, the movement pattern of elephants in this region has not basically changed for over a century, as inferred from descriptions recorded during the 19th century . </P> <P> In the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve three elephant clans had overall home ranges of 562 km (217 sq mi), 670 km (260 sq mi) and 799 km (308 sq mi) in the beginning of the 1990s . During three years of survey, their annual home ranges overlapped to a large extent with only minor shifts in the home ranges between years . </P> <P> The pre-eminent threats to Asian elephants today are habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, which are driven by an expanding human population, and lead in turn to increasing conflicts between humans and elephants when elephants eat or trample crops . Loss of significant extents of elephant range and suitable habitat continues; their free movement is impeded by reservoirs, hydroelectric projects and associated canals, irrigation dams, numerous pockets of cultivation and plantations, highways, railway lines, mining and industrial development . </P>

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