Project Elephant

About

The Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests launched Project Elephant in February 1992.
It is a Central Sponsored Scheme, to offer financial and technical assistance to states’ attempts to manage their free-ranging populations of wild Asian elephants.
Elephas maximus, the Indian elephant, can be found in portions of northern, eastern, and southern India as well as the central and southern Western Ghats. It is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Flora and Fauna and Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Develop and promote scientific and planned management strategies for Elephant conservation.
Prevent the illegal trade of ivory and ensure elephant protection from hunters and poachers.
Develop strategies to prevent unnatural causes of elephant death in India.
Ensure ecological restoration of the natural elephant habitats and their migratory routes.
To mitigate and prevent the increasing conflict in elephant habitats between humans and elephants.
Reduce and remove domestic livestock grazing, the pressure of humans, and their activities in important elephant habitats.
Promote scientific research on issues related to elephant conservation and educate the public on these issues.
To facilitate veterinary care for proper breeding and health care of domesticated elephants and to facilitate Eco-development for the elephants.

There are three subspecies of Asian elephants which are the Indian, Sumatran, and Sri Lankan.
The Indian subspecies has the widest range and accounts for most of the remaining elephants on the continent.
The elephant herd is led by the oldest and largest female member (known as the matriarch). This herd includes the daughters of the matriarch and their offspring.
Elephants have the longest-known gestational (pregnancy) period of all mammals, lasting up to 680 days (22 months).
Females between 14 – 45 years may give birth to calves approximately every four years with the mean interbirth intervals increasing to five years by age 52 and six years by age 60.
Global Population: Estimated 20,000 to 40,000.

India has the largest and the most stable population of Asian elephants. In fact, India is home to more than 60% of all wild Asian elephants. The number of 29,964 elephants were registered in the most recent elephant census, which was conducted in 2017.
31 elephant reserves exist in India. Dandeli Elephant Reserve of Karnataka, Singphan Elephant Reserve of Nagaland, and Lemru Elephant Reserve of Chhattisgarh have been established in the past three years by respective states.
As a result, there are now around 76,508 sq. km of elephant reserves spread throughout 14 states in India.
As per the Elephant Census conducted in 2017, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054), respectively.

It is an international collaboration that measures the levels, trends, and causes of elephant mortality, thereby providing an information base to support international decision-making related to the conservation of elephants in Asia and Africa.
The MIKE Programme was established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) by Resolution 10.10 adopted at the tenth Conference of the Parties in 1997.
There are currently 28 sites participating in the MIKE program in Asia, distributed across 13 countries: India has 10 sites, followed by two sites each in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand, and one site each in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.
Project Elephant has been formally implementing the MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) program of CITES in 10 ERs since January 2004.
It is mandated by the COP resolution of CITES.

101 elephant corridors in the country have been documented by the Wildlife Trust of India with assistance from the State Forest Department of Elephant Range states.
The United Kingdom-based organization, Elephant Family, has partly funded the ground truthing of these corridors.
Elephant corridors are secured through voluntary relocation of settlements and/or acquisition of land.
The Elephant Task Force Report, 2010 “Gajah” has identified 88 elephant corridors (27 priority I and 61 priority II) in the country, out of these 7 corridors have become dysfunctional and 18-20 new corridors are being used by elephants.

Financial and technical assistance is provided to 16 elephant range states under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Project Elephant’.
Improvement of elephant habitat, including Elephant Reserves and Corridors
Regular and extensive patrolling of forest areas and anti-poaching measures by frontline field staff of the State Forest Departments.
Training and awareness camps are organized regularly for local people for the conservation of elephants and other wildlife.
Local communities are organized into Joint Forest Management Committees/Ecodevelopment Committees for the protection of elephant habitats, including elephant corridors.

Elephants straying into human habitations:
The incidences of elephants straying into human habitation have increased during the last few years. The reasons for elephants straying into human habitation are:
Fragmentation and degradation of elephant habitats.
Lack of sufficient food and water in their natural habitats.
Change in the migratory paths due to disturbance/development
Rapid expansion of human habitations and agriculture near elephant reserves and elephant habitats.

Financial and technical assistance is provided to State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat’, ‘Project Tiger’, and ‘Project Elephant’, augmenting their efforts for the management of wildlife and their habitats.
Improvement of Protected Areas, Tiger Reserves, and Elephant Reserves.
Regular and extensive patrolling of forest areas and anti-poaching measures by frontline field staff of the State Forest Departments.
Training and awareness camps are organized regularly for local people for the conservation of wildlife.
Local communities are organized into Joint Forest Management Committees/Eco-development Committees for the protection of wildlife habitat, including elephant corridors.
Habitat improvement and eco-restoration are taken up in critical areas of tiger reserve, elephant reserves, and corridors.

Project Cheetah	Project Tiger
Namami Gange Project	Wildlife Protection Act 1972