Govt printed, then shelved its report on elephants: Count fell by 20% in 5 years

• Hundreds of copies of the Environment Ministry’s elephant census report — Status of Elephant in India 2022-23 — have been gathering dust since February this year.

Highlights:

• Hundreds of copies of the Environment Ministry's elephant census report, "Status of Elephant in India 2022-23," have remained unpublished since February due to delays in census data from the Northeast.
• The unreleased report reveals a troubling 20% decline in the elephant population compared to five years ago, with some regions experiencing an even more drastic drop.

Key Findings from the Unreleased Report

Overall Population Decline

• The report indicates a 20% decrease in the elephant population over the past five years.
• Central India and the Eastern Ghats witnessed a 41% decline, with significant losses in Southern West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha—84%, 68%, and 54% respectively.

Primary Threats Identified

• "Mushrooming developmental projects" like unmitigated mining and linear infrastructure construction are major threats to elephant populations.
• Habitat fragmentation and human-elephant conflicts have increased due to these developmental activities.

Regional Impacts

• Central India and Eastern Ghats: These regions experienced the most substantial population decline. Approximately 1,700 elephants may have migrated to other states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Western Ghats: The population decline here could be as high as 18%, with Kerala alone seeing a 51% decrease.
• Northeast: Data from this region is extrapolated from 2017 estimates due to limited primary data, showing a historical population of 10,139 elephants.

Government's Response and Future Plans

Interim Report Status

• The Environment Ministry considers the current report interim, planning to release a final version by June 2025 after completing the Northeast census.

Methodological Changes

• The ongoing exercise uses a framework similar to the monitoring of tigers, including new methods like DNA profiling and camera traps. This is a departure from the previous direct and indirect counting methods.

Ministerial Statements

• Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav previously claimed that the elephant population in India remains stable, a statement now contradicted by the unpublished report's findings.

Expert Opinions

Ramesh Pandey and Other Authors

• The report’s authors have been largely unavailable for comments, with some acknowledging the delays and methodological changes.

Senior Elephant Researchers

• Experts suggest that the gap in numbers reflects a shift to more accurate statistical modeling rather than an actual sudden decline in population. However, they stress that the findings should prompt urgent conservation actions.

Conservation Recommendations

Key Strategies

• The report emphasizes strengthening corridors and connectivity, restoring habitats, enhancing protection measures, and mitigating the impact of developmental projects.
• Engaging local communities in conservation efforts is crucial for sustainable elephant population management.

Regional Specific Recommendations:

• East-Central Landscape: Addressing the threats from mining, linear infrastructure, poaching, railway collisions, and electrocution.
• Western Ghats: Mitigating the effects of commercial plantations, farmland fencing, human encroachment, and development projects.
• Shivalik-Terai Region: Combating encroachments, forest clearing, and the impacts of intensified agriculture and infrastructure.
• Northeast: Conducting focused estimation exercises to better understand and manage elephant occupancy and abundance.

Prelims Takeaways:

• Western Ghats landscape
• Wildlife Institute of India