By Tirthankar Mitra
KOLKATA: Elephant count in India is in doubt. Reliable population estimation of these huge land mammal is not easy as it is often in camouflage or on the move. The government read the Union ministry of environment and forests have shelved the latest census count of the jumbos. It shows the conservation efforts in poor light.
The delay in placing the report is doing the elephants no good. There are good rave reasons cutting down the strength of the herds. In Odisha for example it is mining and low-hanging power lines which cut down the number of elephants.
In 2010, the then UPA government did not do much on the recommendation of Elephant Task Force which advocated “a robust science-based assessment and monitoring of the elephants’. The NDA government claims that the elephant status has stabilized in the country.
But it’s prevarication over the survey casts doubt on the credibility of its contention. It goes against the governmental claim of finding solution to man-animal conflicts.
Unreleased data reports show a sharp decline in the elephant population in east-central and southern landscapes. The slide in southern West Bengal has been more than 80 per cent while it is more than 60 per cent in Jharkhand and exceeding 50 per cent in Kerala.
A reliable census estimate is a basic prerequisite for conserving endangered animals. And elephants are certainly in this category.
Enumeration methods have to be refined frequently. After the 2005 tiger crisis, Tiger Census thereafter provided a more accurate data of the number of this majestic animal than it’s count did in the earlier years. Other animals like elephants do not receive comparable attention. Elephant census is a case in point.
A census is conducted every five years to count the pachyderm population. But even the enumerators would vouch for the accuracy of their working method.
After 2017, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the surveying agency, changed its method. A statistical model approach used to count tigers was taken up to cling the lumbering giants giving a go by to direct headcount or dung count.
It showed a marked decline in the number of elephants. A debate may very well come up on the issue of conservation of these animals reports of whose coming into conflict with humans are coming to surface over the last two decades. During this period, forests have been increasingly converted into farm lands and development projects. Small wonder, the habitats of elephants have changed through no fault of their own.
The WII report rightly pointed out “fragmentation of habitats has prompted long ranging elephants to venture into unoccupied territories”. Unable to find food and dispersal area, the onetime carrier of emperors and monarchs have become crop raiders.
Things have come to such a pass that while making population estimates and outlining the. contours of enumerators maps are going past reserve forest areas well into human dominated landscapes. It is the tip of the iceberg indicating the extent of elephants habitat loss and the reasons behind the rise in man-animal conflict.
It also focuses on the fact that a viable population of pachyderms can peacefully coexist with humans. Once the herds increase in number and the grazing ground fall short of their quantum and area of sustenance, man and beast coming into conflict is almost certain.
Like it or not, the elephant is in the room. To guide it to the place where it feels at home is the need of the hour. A population count is a pointer of how an animal is doing in the wild. It does not speak well of the state of existence of the elephants in the wilds of India. (IPA Service)
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