Management plan for Indian elephants proposed

The Elephant Task Force has proposed a series of measures to help conserve the Indian elephant and help to rebuild the numbers from the current population of about 25,000. Although the numbers are not so low that it is putting the elephant at risk of extinction there is a big concern because of the disparity between males and females. As only the male elephant grows tusks they are targeted by poachers so in some areas there is only 1 male to every 100 female elephants.

The task force has proposed that India;

set up a national elephant conservation authority
tackle poaching
protect wildlife corridors from development
secure the wildlife parks

The report’s lead author, Mahesh Rangarajan, said elephants have not received the same attention as tigers and other endangered wildlife, partly because their rate of decline has not been as dramatic. The numbers of wild elephants in India have stayed about the same over the past decade, but their habitat has continued to decline. “With the elephant it is not a crisis of extinction, but a crisis of attrition,” he said.

Vivek Menon, a wildlife expert with the Wildlife Trust of India, said the panel’s recommendations are a step in the right direction. “If implemented in full, these are more than enough to save the elephant,” he said.

India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has laid our plans to name the elephant as a National Heritage Animal to help raise the awareness of elephants and to help gain public support for their conservation. He told reporters, “ We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as they have been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give same degree of importance to elephant as is given to tiger in order to protect the big animal“. The naming of the elephant as a National Heritage animal follows on from the recognition given to the river dolphin under the scheme.

The minister also confirmed that the necessary legislation required to establish a national elephant conservancy authority will be submitted to the Parliament during the winter session as an amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act and will operate in the same way as the tiger conservancy authority. He also said that new animal welfare regulations will be introduced follow recent concerns about the treatment of elephants at temples and other locations.

With over 3,500 elephants in captivity in India the living conditions and treatment is an important part of nature conservation. The latest concerns arise from the use of elephants to bless Hindus in temples, a number of elephants have caught and died from tuberculosis (TB) caught from the pilgrims. Following a recent inspection by government vets and officials new guidelines have been introduced for those who keep elephants in relation to their diet and exercise regime.

The report by the task force identified 88 corridors used by wild elephants that needed additional protection from development to ensure that the animals could move freely across the country. The breaking up of these networks of corridors by developments such as mining, roads and human habitation led to the isolation of populations and with male elephants numbers so low could impact on the viability of some small family groups.

Elephants have an important cultural role in India and one of the big tourist draws to the country is the annual Elephant Festival at Jaipur in the north if India. There is a genuine love for the elephant in the country and the new pans to protect and conserve the wild population will almost certainly have the support of the local population. further work needs to be done to combat poaching of male elephants but the Indian government has certainly shown it’s willingness to take advice and tackle the issues that threaten the animal.

photo credit: jude