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News: World Elephant Day is observed annually on 12 August, highlighting the need for sustained efforts to conserve Asian elephants and their habitats.
About Asian Elephant
- The Asian elephants are the largest land mammal on the Asian continent.
- Habitat: Asian elephants inhabit grasslands, scrublands, evergreen forests and deciduous forests.
- In India, their habitat ranges from wet tropical evergreen forests to semi-arid thorn and scrub forests.
- Distribution: Asian elephants are found across 13 range countries in South and Southeast Asia.
- In India, they occur in four fragmented populations located in the south, north, central and north-east.
- Key Features:
- Social Behaviour: They are highly sociable and usually live in groups of six to seven related females.
- These groups are led by the oldest female, called the matriarch.
- Feeding Habits: They spend more than two-thirds of their day feeding.
- Their diet includes grasses, tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems.
- Water Requirement: They remain close to a source of fresh water because they need to drink at least once a day.
- Ecological Role: As a keystone species, they help maintain forest health.
- Social Behaviour: They are highly sociable and usually live in groups of six to seven related females.
- Conservation Status:
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix I
Project Elephant
- Launch: Project Elephant was launched by the Government of India in 1992.
- Aim: It aims to conserve wild Asian elephants, their habitats and corridors.
- Key Features:
- State Support: It provides financial and technical assistance to elephant-bearing States and Union Territories.
- Habitat Conservation: It focuses on restoring existing elephant habitats and migratory routes and promotes scientific planning for elephant populations and habitats.
- Conflict Mitigation: It works towards human-elephant conflict mitigation and supports measures against poaching and unnatural deaths.
- Scientific Monitoring: It promotes AI-enabled monitoring, radio-collaring, genetic databases and early warning systems.
- Captive Elephant Welfare: It also supports the conservation and welfare of captive elephants.
