Project Elephant | Elephant Reserves, Corridor

Project Elephant

Project Elephant in India was launched in February 1992 as a centrally sponsored scheme to assist states having free-ranging populations of wild elephants and to ensure the long-term survival of elephants in their natural habitats.

The Project Elephant in India is mainly being implemented in 13 states/Union territories namely; West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh. Small support is also being given to Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

The states are being given financial and technical assistance in achieving the objectives of the project. Help is also provided to other states with a small population of elephants for the purpose of the census, training of field staff, and mitigation of human-elephant conflict.

Objectives of Project Elephant

• To protect elephants, their habitats, and corridors.
• To address issues of man-animal conflict.
• The welfare of domesticated elephants.

Aims of Project Elephant

The following are the aims under Project Elephant which have to be achieved by the implementing agencies.

• Ecologically restoring the natural habitats and the migratory routes of the elephants.
• Mitigation of the increasing conflicts between the man and elephants in important habitats and moderating the pressure of human and domestic stock activities in the important elephant habitats.
• For the conservation of elephants the development of scientific and planned management measures.
• Protecting the elephants from poachers and other unnatural causes of death and preventing the illegal ivory trade is also one of the major concerns of the elephant project in India.
• Researching on the issues related to elephants and creating public awareness and education programs for it.
• Veterinary care and eco-development of elephants.
• It also aims at maintaining health care and breeding of tamed elephants.
• Establishing elephant reserves in India.

Elephant Reserves in India

The Indian elephant occurs in some parts of southern peninsular India, northern India, eastern India, northeast India, southern and central of the western ghats. t is distributed in the 16 states of the country and its increasing across the distributional range. The first elephant reserve in India was the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve of Jharkhand.

The detailed list of the Elephant Reserves in India is given below:

Elephant Corridor in India

A land strip that connects larger habitats with elephant populations and forms a conduit for animal movement between the habitats is known as the elephant corridor. This movement helps enhance species survival and birth rate.

There are 88 identified elephant corridors in India. Out of 88 corridors, 20 were in South India, 12 in north-western India, 20 in central India, 12 in northern West Bengal, and 22 in north-eastern India.

In south India, 65 percent of the corridors are in the protected areas or in the reserved forests. 90 percent in central India are jointly under forest, agriculture, and settlements, only 10 percent are completely under forest area. Nationally, only 24 percent of the corridors are under complete forest cover.

Threat to Elephant Corridor

• The primary threat to the Elephant Corridor in India is habitat loss leading to the fragmentation and destruction caused by developmental activities like constructions of buildings, roads, railways, resorts, etc.
• Coal mining and iron ore mining are the two single biggest threats in central India.
• Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh have the highest number of Elephant Corridors, which leads to man-elephant conflicts.
• Poaching is a serious problem, as the elephant ivory from the tusk is very valuable.