- On the occasion of World Elephant Day (12th August) the Union Environment Minister made public the population estimation protocol to be adopted in the all-India elephant and tiger population estimation in 2022.
- World Elephant Day was launched in 2012 to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
Important points:
Current Data on Elephants in India:
According to the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India. Which is a slight increase from 2012’s mean of 29,576 elephants.
Asian Elephants:
- There are three subspecies of Asian elephant which are the Indian, Sumatran and Sri Lankan.
- The Indian subspecies has the widest range and accounts for the majority of the remaining elephants on the continent.
- Global Population: Estimated 20,000 to 40,000.
- Protection Status:
- IUCN Red List-Endangered.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972- Schedule I.
- CITES- Appendix I
African Elephants:
- There are two subspecies of African elephants, the Savanna (or bush) elephant and the Forest elephant.
- Global Population: Around 4,00,000.
- Earlier in July 2020, Botswana (Africa) witnessed the death of hundreds of elephants.
- Protection Status:
- IUCN Red List Status:
- African Savanna Elephant– Endangered.
- African Forest Elephant– Critically Endangered
- CITES–Appendix II
Concerns:
- Escalation of poaching.
- Habitat loss.
- Human-elephant conflict.
- Mistreatment in captivity.
- Abuse due to elephant tourism.
- Rampant mining, Corridor destruction.
SOURCE: THE HINDU ,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT