Some of Asia’s largest animals, including tigers and elephants, are defying 12,000 years of extinction trends by coexisting with people, according to research led by the. Researchers combed through paleontological records to compare the past distribution of Asia’s 14 biggest species to their current populations in tropical forests.
“These results challenge the narrative within some conservation circles that humans and megafauna are incompatible. Globally there is a trend towards ‘trophic downgrading’, a term referring to the disproportionate loss of the world’s largest animals. Trophic downgrading is usually worst near humans because hunters target larger species. But in the case of tigers, elephants, wild boars, and clouded leopards, their Asian populations are higher nearby humans.
At one of their study sites in Singapore, where poaching has been eliminated and there are considerable forest restoration efforts, two large animal species are thriving again.