In February 1992, a Project Elephant was undertaken as an important promoted scheme of the Indian government, Ministry of Forests and Environment. It gives financial and technological backing to wildlife supervision undertakings by states for their uncaged wild Asian Elephants.
The undertaking intends to assure the long existence of the elephant population in them by conserving them and their shelters. Additional purposes of Project Elephant are helping the study of the ecology and surveillance of elephants, generating conservation awareness among regional people, giving superior animal specialist maintenance for confined elephants.
The project was foreseen on the requirement to concentrate preservation activity on the Asian Elephant and its environment, which nowadays confront several dangers. The major threats include:
- a) Loss and destruction of the environment and consequences separateness of populations into minor and inherently unfeasible divisions;
- b) Clashes between human populations and wild elephants, overseeing to people’s death, loss of property, and slaughter of wild elephants;
- c) Caging of elephants for ivory and meat.
- d) Elephant death for reasons like passing rail lines, transmission cables, roads, etc through the place of elephant’s shelters and other biological reasons such as storms.
- e) Insufficient finance, groundwork, and human reserves for adequate execution of surveillance emphases at the field level.
Table of Contents
A Favourable Scheme for Project Elephant
The Indian Elephant is particularly observed in 16 states of India, mainly in North-Eastern India, the Southern part of the Western Ghats, Northern India, Eastern India, and Central India.
According to current news, the elephant population is indicating a strong movement across elephant reserves in India. The population of elephants was nearly 15000 when the project elephant was begun and has risen since then.
Objectives
Project Elephant was undertaken to secure the long existence of the elephant population by protecting them and their sanctuaries in the country.
The special purposes of the project are to:
- a) Protect, bring back and eco-friendly expand the prevailing habitats;
- b) Save wild elephants from catching or killing illegally and unusual losses;
- c) End elephant-human clashes and the environmental and demographic components accountable for such disputes;
- d) Build facility in the states for proper management of elephants,
- f) Give specialized and monetary contributions to the states for reasonable administration of wild elephants and their environments.
Monitoring against poaching
Since January 2004, Project Elephant has been meticulously carrying out Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants i.e. MIKE project of CITES in 10 ERs. It is an international agreement to conserve jeopardized flora and fauna. In 2003, Project Elephant was begun in South Asia with the following objectives.
- To estimate categories and movements in unfair hunting of elephants.
- To find out alterations in these movements over time.
- To specify the characteristics resulting in or correlated with these alterations and to begin and evaluate in particular to what scope these observed things are an outcome of any judgments carried by the Conference of the Parties to CITES.
Elephant – The National Heritage Animal
The elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in India. It has existed inseparably related with our past and mythology for centuries and has possessed its significance as a special category, whether in the wild or captivity. In the year 2010, The Indian Government announced elephants as the nationwide heritage animal on the suggestions of the national board for wildlife committee. This was executed to protect elephants in every way before the elephant become hard to find in the nation just like in the issue of tigers.
The elephant is regarded as a variety of prosperity, fertility, and abundance. The significance of the elephant is a nice indicator of the health of the environment. An environment that is reasonable for elephants is similarly promising not only for cheetah, sambhar, Kakar but also for panthers and tigers.
When the wilderness is favorable for all these animals, the environment is also in nice condition, which indicates the water present is favorable and likewise the condition of the soil.
The ancient and current day ratio of the elephant in the Indian sub-continent is recorded as the evolved breakdown of the habitat in the sub-continent. National elephant conservation authority has been proposed with NTCA to be included by modifying the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
Activities
Monetary backing is being given to primary elephant losses confronting States in the country. There are primarily 16 states in which the project is being carried out. These states are Assam, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttrakhand. Primary activities under the Project are as such:
- Improvement of technical and planned supervision for protection of elephant habitats and attainable community of Wild Asiatic elephants,
- Ecological improvement of prevailing natural habitats and itinerant ways of elephants are constructed nicely,
- Growth of estimates for alleviation of man-elephant tension and decreasing tensions of people and domestic cattle movements in crucial elephant habitats;
- Improving estimates for the preservation of wild elephants from plunderer and unusual reasons of casualty;
- Economic growth
- Survey on Elephant surveillance associated problems;
- Veterinary maintenance
- Public instruction and attention programs;
- Rescue Centers
Campaign Haathi Mere Saathi
Hathi Mere Sathi, a campaign has been launched by the Environment and Forests Ministry and agrees with Wildlife Trust of India. The purpose of the program was to expand public understanding and create connections between the local population and elephants. The program was for the good of the elephants, to defend the elephants in India.
On 24th May 2011, the campaign was undertaken in Delhi at Elephant- 8 ministerial committees. Botswana, Kenya, Srilanka, Indonesia, Republic of Congo, India, Tanzania, Thailand are the nations that are included in the Elephant-8 ministerial conference.
Elephant Task Force
The high uncertainty due to the uncontrolled murder of elephants and human-elephant dispute urged the administration to undertake the Elephant Task Force. The priority of this Task Force is to get practical outcomes for the protection of elephants for their longer life.
Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan a wildlife analyst and political analyst directed the elephant task force along with elephant biologists, preservation and animal welfare activists, and a veterinarian.
India has over 25000 to 29000 elephants. There are around 1200 tusker elephants only left in India, that are as endangered as the Tigers.
The Asian elephants are jeopardized by environmental deterioration, man-elephant dispute, and illegally killing for the Ivory. This situation is more drastic in India which has over 50% of the entire community of the world’s Asian elephants.
Project Elephant: Elephant Reserves In India
There are around 32 elephant Reserves in India as announced by the government.
Some of the Elephant reserves in India are as mentioned below:
| Uttarakhand | Shivalik Elephant Reserve |
| Uttar Pradesh | Uttar Pradesh Elephant Reserve |
| West Bengal | Mayurjharna Elephant Reserve |
| Jharkhand | Singhbhum Elephant Reserve |
| Orissa |
Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve
Mahanadi Elephant Reserve Sambalpur Elephant Reserve Baitami Elephant Reserve South Orissa |
| Chhattisgarh | Lemru Elephant Reserve |
| Badalkhol | Tamor Pingla Elephant Reserve |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Kameng Elephant Reserve |
| Assam |
Sonitpur Elephant Reserve
Dihing-Patkai Elephant Reserve Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve |
| Arunachal Pradesh | South Arunachal Elephant Reserve |
| Nagaland | Intanki Elephant Reserve |
| West Bengal | Eastern Dooars Elephant Reserve |
| Meghalaya |
Garo Hills Elephant Reserve
Khasi-hills Elephant Reserve |
| Karnataka | Mysore Elephant Reserve |
| Kerala |
Wayanad Elephant Reserve
Nilambur Elephant Reserve Anamudi Elephant Reserve Periyar Elephant Reserve |
| Tamil Nadu |
Coimbatore Elephant Reserve
Nilgiri Elephant Reserve |
FAQ:
1. What are the advantages of project elephants?
Ans- The Project Elephant scheme supports the safety and surveillance of wild elephants in the states. It guarantees the safety of elephant passageways and the elephant environment for the sustaining of the elephant community in the wild.
2. How many MIKE sites are there in India?
Ans- There are presently 28 sites contributing to the MIKE program in Asia, circulated across 13 countries. India has 10 MIKE sites, attended by two sites each in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Lao PDR, and one site each in China, Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
3. What is Project elephant and when it was initiated?
Ans- Project Elephant gives financial and technological backing to wildlife supervision undertakings by states for their uncaged wild Asian Elephants. In February 1992, a Project Elephant was undertaken as an important promoted scheme of the Indian government, Ministry of Forests and Environment.
4. How can we protect elephants in India?
Ans- Elephant can be protected in India by:
-Effective mechanisms for securing corridors and legal protection.
-Restoring polluted and lost habitats.
-Conserving environments.
-Practical means to deter elephant killing and trading.
-Minimizing dependence of man on forest
Final Words
An elephant is one of the animals which has to tolerate the outcomes of habitat destruction and fragmentation because the elephant needs a bigger living area. Project Elephant is deemed an achievement in the perspective of several conservationists as it has been proficient to protect the elephant population in India at a safe and sustainable point.
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