Project Elephant

Conservation, Protection, and Welfare of

Elephants in India

Harsh
Vineet
Jatin
Gaurav
Chaitanya
Keshav
Rahul
Aayush
Akshiv
 Introduction
• Project Elephant was launched in 1992 by the
Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forests
to provide financial and technical support for the
management of wild Asian Elephants.
• The project aims to ensure the long-term survival of
elephants in their natural habitats by protecting them,
their habitats, and migration corridors.
• Other goals of Project Elephant are supporting the
research of the ecology and management of elephants,
creating awareness of conservation among local people,
providing improved veterinary care for captive elephants.
 Objectives
Project Elephant Objectives:
• To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors
• To address issues of man-animal conflict
• Welfare of captive elephants
 Monitoring Against Poaching (MIKE)
Project Elephant has been formally implementing MIKE (Monitoring of
Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme of CITES in 10 ERs since January
2004. It is mandated by COP resolution of CITES. Project Elephant was
started in South Asia in 2003 with the following purposes:
• To measure levels and trends in illegal hunting of elephants.
• To determine changes in these trends over time.
• To determine the factors causing or associated with these changes
and to try and assess in particular to what extent observed trends are a
result of any decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties to CITES.
Data are collected from all sites on monthly basis in specified MIKE
patrol form and submitted to Sub-Regional Support Office for South
Asia Programme in Delhi who are assisting Ministry in implementation
of the programme.
 Conservation Strategy for Elephants
• Project elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in February 1992. The
scheme helps and assists in the management and protection of elephants to the
States having free-ranging populations of wild elephants, in order to ensure the
survival of elephant population in the wild and protection of elephant habitat and
elephant corridor.
• Project elephant is mainly implemented in 16 States / UTs, which includes Andhra
Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Kerala, Nagaland, Meghalaya,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Uttaranchal West Bengal
Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
• The union government provides financial and technical assistance to the states to
achieve the goals of this project. Help is also provided for the purpose of the
census, training of field officials and to ensure the mitigation and prevention of
human-elephant conflict.
• There are around 32 elephant Reserves in India notified by the state governments.
The first elephant reserve was the Singhbhum elephant Reserve of Jharkhand.
 Objectives of project elephant
• Protection of elephants, their habitats and
elephant corridors.
• Mitigation and prevention of man-elephant
conflict.
• To ensure the Welfare of domesticated
elephants.
The aim of this project
 Aim of this project
• To ensure the protection of elephants from hunters and poachers, and
prevent illegal trade of ivory. It also includes the strategy to prevent unnatural
causes of death of elephants in India.
• To develop and promote scientific and planned management strategies for
the conservation of elephants.
• To mitigate and prevent the increasing conflict between humans and
elephants in elephant habitats. It also aims to reduce and remove the
pressure of human and domestic livestock grazing and other activities in
important elephant habitat.
• To ensure ecological restoration of the natural elephant habitats and their
migratory routes.
• To promote scientific research on issues related to conservation of
elephants and promotion of public awareness and education on these issues.
• To ensure the proper health care and breeding of domesticated elephants.
To facilitate veterinary care and Eco-development for the elephant
 Elephant Corridors in India
• Elephant corridor is the narrow strips of forested lands which connects larger elephant
habitats with significant elephant populations. It acts as a conduit for the movement of
elephants between the elephant habitat. It is necessary to enhance species survival and birth
rate of the elephant population in the wild.

• There are around 88 elephant corridors in India out of which 20 are in South India, 12 in
North Western India, 14 in North West Bengal, 20 in Central India and 22 in North Eastern India.
About 77.3% of these corridors are regularly used by the elephants. One-third of these
corridors are of high ecological priority and other two third are of medium priority.

• These elephant habitats are facing threats due to their fragmentation. This problem is severe
in areas of Northern West Bengal followed by North Western India, North Eastern India and
Central India. This fragmentation was least in South India.

• 65% of elephant corridor in South India fall under protected areas or reserved forests. But
only 10% of elephant corridors in Central area are completely under forest area, while 90% of
them are jointly under forest, agriculture and settlements. Overall, only 24% of elephant
corridors in India are under complete forest cover.
 Major Threats to Elephant Corridors
• Problems such as elephant habitat loss which is leading to
fragmentation and destruction primarily due to developmental activities
such as the construction of roads, railways, buildings, holiday resorts and
electric fencing etc.
• Mining activities such as coal mining and iron ore mining have been
described as single biggest threats to elephant corridor in Central India.
States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa are mineral rich but also
have the highest number of elephant corridors which is leading to
elephant man conflict.
• As elephants require extensive grazing ground for food, lack of such
grazing grounds can force elephants to search for food elsewhere. Most
of the elephant reserves unable to accommodate all the elephants,
which results in man-elephant conflict due to the destruction of crops by
elephants.
 Elephant as the national heritage
• The elephant has been declared as the national
heritage animal by the government of India in 2010
after the recommendations of the standing committee
on national board for wildlife. This was to ensure
sufficient protection for elephants before it's numbered
fall to panic levels as it had happened in case of tigers.
• A proposed National elephant conservation authority
(NECA) on the lines with NTCA has been proposed to be
constituted by amending the Wildlife Protection Act
1972.
 Monitoring of illegal killing of elephants
(MIKE) programme
MIKE program was started in South Asia and in 2003 after the conference
of parties a resolution of CITES. It aims to provide information which is
required by the elephant range countries to make proper management and
enforcement decisions and to promote institutional capacity in those States
for long-term protection and management of their elephant populations.
Main objectives of MIKE programme.
1. To measure the levels and trends in the illegal poaching of elephants. To
ensure changes in the trends for protection of elephant population.
2. To determine the factors which are responsible for such changes, and to
assess in particular about the impact of decisions of the conference of
parties to CITES responsible for such changes.
3. Under this programme, data are collected on a monthly basis from all the
sites in specified MIKE patrol form and it is submitted to the sub-regional
support office for South Asia programme located in Delhi.
 Hathi Mere Sathi
• Ministry of environment and forests (MOEF) in partnership with Wildlife Trust
of India (WTI) has launched a campaign called Hathi Mere Sathi. The campaign
aims to improve the conservation, protection and welfare of elephants in India.
It was launched at Elephant- 8 ministerial meeting which was held in Delhi on
24th may 2011.
• The countries who are the part of the Elephant-8 ministerial meeting are
Botswana, Kenya, Srilanka, Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Tanzania, Thailand and
India.
• The Hathi Mere Sathi campaign aims at increasing public awareness and
developing friendship and companionship between local population and
elephants. The campaign mascot Gaju
• The campaign Mascot Gaju focuses on various groups which include local
people near elephant habitats, youth, policymakers and others. The scheme
envisions to set up elephant centres all over the country in the elephant
landscapes. It aims to spread awareness about the plight of elephants and
promote people's participation in addressing these issues.
 The campaign mascot Gaju
• The campaign Mascot Gaju focuses on various groups which include local people near
elephant habitats, youth, policymakers and others. The scheme envisions to set up elephant
centres all over the country in the elephant landscapes. It aims to spread awareness about
the plight of elephants and promote people's participation in addressing these issues.
• The campaign plans to ensure capacity building of law enforcement agencies at the
ground level to enhance protection of elephants, and to advocate for the policies in favour
of elephants.
• The elephant task force (ETF) which was constituted by the Ministry of Environment and
Forest has recommended the campaign to Take Gajah (the elephant) to the Prajah (the
people) in order to increase public awareness and their participation in the conservation and
welfare of elephants.
• India has around 25000 - 29000 elephants in the wild. However, the tuskers (male) in India
are as threatened as the Tigers as there are only around 1200 tusker elephants left in India.
• The Asian elephants are threatened by the habitat degradation, man-elephant conflict and
poaching for the Ivory. This problem is more intense in India which has around 50% of the
total population of world's Asian elephants.
 Mitigation Strategies
• Fusion of elephant corridors with the nearby protected areas and reserved
forest wherever possible. In other areas, to provide protection to the
elephant corridors, there is a need for the declaration of ecologically
sensitive areas or conservation reserves.

• Securing the elephant corridors would require awareness generation and

sensitizing the local population to promote voluntary relocation outside the
conflict zones. This would prevent the problem of further fragmentation of
continuous forest habitats from encroachment by human beings. It would
also provide refuge for other wild animals such as tiger, Sambar, crocodile,
bird species etc.

• During the process of securing the elephant corridor, there is a need to

monitor the animal movements along with habitat restoration as per the
requirements.
 Religious and Cultural Significance of
Elephants
Elephants have held a profound religious significance in India for millennia, deeply embedded
in its mythology, religion, and art.

Religious Symbolism:

Ganesha: The most prominent elephant deity in Hinduism, Ganesha is the remover of
obstacles and the patron of arts and sciences. His elephant head symbolizes wisdom, and his
large belly represents prosperity.
Indra: The Hindu god of rain, thunder, and warfare, often depicted riding a white elephant
named Airavata. Airavata is considered to be the king of elephants and is often associated
with prosperity and good fortune.

Buddhism: Elephants are also revered in Buddhism, symbolizing wisdom, strength, and
perseverance. The Buddha himself is often depicted as an elephant before his birth.

Art and Literature Depictions: Elephants are prominently featured in Indian art, literature, and
architecture. They are often depicted in sculptures, paintings, and temple carvings.
Folklore: Elephants are also a popular subject in Indian folklore and mythology, appearing in
many stories and legends.