Human-Wildlife Conflict
Context:
Eight wild elephants were killed, including 1 month old calf when the Rajdhani Express hit a herd in the Hojai district of Assam.
The 22nd Steering Committee Meeting of Project Elephant was held at Sundarbans Tiger Reserve.
chaired by the Union Environment Minister.
The meeting saw the release of publications like “Best Practices in Captive Elephant Management” and the “TRUMPET Quarterly Journal”
About Asian Elephant:
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is a keystone species affecting habitats
It has protection under Schedule I species of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
An Appendix I of CITES species.
About Project Elephant:
It was launched in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Objectives:
To protect Asian elephants, their habitat, and corridors.
To address issues of man-animal conflict.
To ensure the welfare of captive elephants.
Operates through Elephant Reserves (ERs) notified by State Governments
Elephant Reserves:
India has 33 Elephant Reserves.
They are not statutory protected areas like National Parks but are landscape-level conservation units
On the other hand, Elephant corridors are narrow strips of land that connect two or larger habitats, essential for the movement of elephants to prevent genetic isolation.
India has identified 150+ elephant corridors
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone alone covers nearly 80 designated elephant or animal corridors across eight northeastern states and parts of Bihar and West Bengal.
Elephant distributions are mainly in four regions in the country:
Norther region: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh.
Northeast region: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal.
East central regions: West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh.
Southern region: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, A&N Nicobar Islands.