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
Related articles
- Elephants Poisoned and Electrocuted at Indian Wildlife Preserve (animals.change.org)
- India elephant blessings ‘to stop’ over tuberculosis fears (telegraph.co.uk)
- Panel: India must secure elephant reserves (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
with refrence to the poaching of elephants i dont think enough is being done to try and prevent this barbaric act of voilence, firstly we humans are encroaching on their land so why not simply move the people residing there to land away from the elephant corridors and in cases of conflict thick hedge rows of chilli pepper should be planted along side all residential areas so by the time the elephants have tried to come through the thick rows of chilli it will be to overwhelming for their nasals and back off, as for the poachers i suggest that they swap/trade their guns for a camera which hold memory cards, as they are poachers they have skills to sneak up on these beautiful big animals and instead of shooting them with a gun shoot them with a camera therefore producing great close up photos to sell to public therefore instantly giving them a job all the money produced from selling the photos will pay their wages all that needs to be done is download the pictures the ex-poachers have taken clear the memory card for them insert the memory card back in there camera and off they go again to take more pictures, i am currently trying to set up a web site to display all my photographs for public to buy and all the money from the photos will go towards buying cameras, memory cards, and setting up this venture, surely not all poachers want to go out and kill elephants everyday for a living,given a better wage than poaching produces may entice them to change their career choice, so i think any idea is worth giving it a go we need to help endangered species right now before its too late. my motto is “SHOOT WITH A CAMERA NOT A GUN” my plea is anyone with any kind of authority to do with animal welfare please help me try and help the animals as they cant help themselves. my e-mail is; dennyd@talktalk.net please contact me with any help or suggestions THANKYOU.
Hi Denise
That seems like a great idea. I hope you get the web site up and running. When you do post back here with the address so we can go visit it.
It would be great if we can get poachers involved in conservation and tourist projects. Being poachers they have a lot of skills that can be used and can earn them a living.
Best of luck on your venture
Kevin