The Union Environment Ministry on Thursday reviewed the major initiative under the Project Elephant at the 21st meeting of the Project’s Steering Committee headed by Environment Minister Bhupinder Yadav in Dehradun, and was noted that the population of synchronized elephants was completed for the north-eastern states, according to the ministry.
Yadava chaired a meeting of the National Board for Wildlife’s Standing Committee in Dehradun and the committee recommended the inclusion of dull bears and gongs in the species recovery program of the ministry, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, during the meeting, it was also noted that as part of the government’s plans to reduce elephant’s death due to conflict with trains, 3,452.4 km sensitive railway stretch was surveyed and 77 high -risk areas were identified for mitigation.
Project Elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme and the Steering Committee reviews the implementation of the project and issues such as elephant protection and conservation of houses.
On anticipating the population of synchronized elephants in the northeastern states, the committee said that according to the ministry more than 16,500 elephant dung samples have been collected. In addition, the committee also discussed regional action plans on human-hand struggle in southern and northeast India.
The last elephant’s census or estimate practice was in 2017, which found that the country was home to about 29,964 elephants. Even though a report on the next synchronized elephant census was prepared under the title ‘Elephant status in India 2022-23’, The Indian Express Last October reported that it was given shelter citing delay in census in the northeast and because it was an interim report. The report noted a 20% decline in elephant counting compared to five years ago.
Last December, in response to a question in Parliament, the Ministry of Environment said that between 2019-20 and 2023-24, 73 elephants were killed due to conflict with trains or train accidents.
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The committee also mentioned progress on the DNA profile of captive elephants, with 1,911 genetic profiles in 22 states.
Yadav requested a coordinated efforts between Indian Railways, Ministry of Power, NHAI and mine developers as per a government release. He also emphasized the need for systematic collection of data and analysis of data on elephant deaths due to railway accidents, and sharing knowledge between states.
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