Name of the Scheme – Project Elephant.
Department –Forests, Ecology, Environment and Wildlife
Scheme for : Institutions
Where to Apply : Chief Wildlife Warden Office, Wildlife Warden and Directorate office.
When to Apply : Any time of the year
Introduction
India is rich and mega-diverse in both culture and in the natural resources and has legacy of conservation of this vast richness. Animals and Birds in India have been an integral part of the myths and mythology and have since ingrained in our socio-cultural milieu. Wildlife such as Lion, Tiger, Vulture, Elephants etc. have been associated with several deities and have been revered since ages. It is best exemplified in the case of Ganesha – India’s elephant god and slayer of obstacles in life. Prayers to lord Ganesha often mark the beginning of good things. Elephants are also considered as a sign of prosperity and are the center of attraction in Indian zoos and even in religious institutions where people, particularly the children throng to see them.
Biologically, forests in which elephants’ dwell are rich in diversity and act as water source for many perennial Indian rivers. Elephants play a crucial functional role in the tropical forest ecosystem through seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, biomass removal, and assisted vegetation generation through trampling and other effects that eventually shape forest communities. Elephant forests also sequester tons of carbon emitted in atmosphere, and shield us from the adversities of climate change. Due to their central role in shaping and maintaining forest environment, elephants are often referred to as ecosystem engineers.
There are three species of elephants that occur in the world. Africa has two of them and Asia has one. Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is the largest terrestrial mammal of India which requires large forested habitats to manage and maintain the viable populations. Thus, without doubt, conservation of elephants clearly rests on securing large forested habitats.
Considering their ecological importance, elephants are considered as one of the keystone species of biodiversity conservation. Further to this, elephants are identified as umbrella species as a wide array of tropical biodiversity can be conserved under the ambit of elephant conservation given their large and heterogenous habitat requirements. Furthermore, because of cultural and religious importance and aesthetic appeal, elephants also serve as flagship species in biodiversity conservation. It is only remarkable that a single species act as keystone, flagship, and umbrella species of biodiversity conservation amply justifying India’s decision to declare elephants as National Heritage animal.
Asian elephants were believed to be widely distributed — from Tigris — Euphrates in West Asia eastward through Persia into the Indian sub-continent, South and Southeast Asia including Sri Lanka, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and up to North China. Currently they are confined to Indian Subcontinent, South East Asia and some Asian Islands: Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatera); Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia (Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia); Myanmar; Nepal; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Vietnam.
Within Asia, although elephants occur in 13 countries, India holds more than 60% wild elephant populations of the globe. In India, Asian elephants are distributed majorly in southern and north-eastern India, east-central and northern regions. There are 10 landscapes identified by Elephant Tasks Force (2010) in the above mentioned regions on the principles of elephant habitat contiguity and have distinct populations with occasional genetic exchange.
The current distribution of wild elephant in India is now restricted to four general areas:
- North-eastern India,
- Central India,
- North-western India,
- Southern India.
In north-eastern India, the elephant range extends from the eastern border of Nepal in northern West Bengal through western Assam along the Himalaya foothills as far as the Mishmi Hills. From here it extends into eastern Arunachal Pradesh, the plains of upper Assam, and the foothills of Nagaland. Further west, it extends to the Garo Hills of Meghalaya through the Khasi Hills, to parts of the lower Brahmaputra plains and Karbi Plateau. Elsewhere in the south in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and the Barak valley districts of Assam, isolated herds occur.
In central India, highly fragmented elephant populations are found in the States of Orissa, Jharkhand, and the southern part of West Bengal, with some animals wandering into Chhattisgarh. In north-western India, the species occurs in six fragmented populations at the foot of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, ranging from Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in Bahraich Forest Division in the east, to the Yamuna River in the west.
There are eight main populations in southern India, each fragmented from the others: northern Karnataka; the crestline of Karnataka—Western Ghats; Bhadra— Malnad; Brahmagiri—Nilgiris—Eastern Ghats; Nilambur—Silent Valley—Coimbatore; Anamalais—Parambikulam; Periyar—Srivilliputhur; and Agasthyamalais.
Launch of Project Elephant
Elephant is a National Heritage animal of India and has protected under Seclude I species of Indian Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. Concerned at the primary need to restore the elephant habitats and reduce suffering of both elephant as well as the human population, the Government of India launched the “Project Elephant” in 1991-92 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change. It was intended to provide financial and technical support to the elephant range states of India for the protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors and address issue of human- animal conflict. It also sought to promote welfare of captive elephants.
The Project Elephant (PE) was launched with following objectives:
- To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors
- To address issues of man-animal conflict
Welfare of captive elephants
Financial and Technical support are being provided to major elephant bearing States in the country. Presently, the Project Elephant is being implemented in 22 States/UTs, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andaman & Nicobar, Bihar, Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana (where an elephant rescue centre has been set up supported by Project Elephant).
Main activities under the Project are as follows:
The Project Elephant aims at providing support to the States for achievement of the following broad objectives:-
- Conserve and protect viable population of wild elephants in their natural habitats in the country;
- To conserve and protect and, where necessary, to restore natural habitats and traditional corridors/migratory routes or movement paths used by the elephants — through eco-restoration, acquisition etc ;
- To take concrete measures to protect the elephants from poaching and other threats by taking suitable measures like deployment of patrolling squads, intelligence gathering etc;
- To create a viable mechanism to ensure inter-state and regional and national level coordination in protecting and conserving the elephant and its ranges;
- To create infrastructure and other facilities for conservation support activities like veterinary care, management training, humane methods of capture, tranquilizing and translocation etc of wild elephants, as and when required;
- To improve and create infrastructure for the welfare of elephants in domestic use, including their veterinary care, training of mahouts and supervisory staff in proper treatment of elephants in captivity;
- To encourage and create facilities for research related to the management and ecology of elephant, and also with respect to its veterinary care;
- To take appropriate steps to mitigate man-elephant conflict through suitable measures, such as eco-development, public education and awareness programmes, scientific management, ex-gratia payments, deployment of anti-depredation teams etc.
- To take measures for detection and prevention of diseases in wild elephants.
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