Elephant census

14 Aug 2021 Elephant census

Posted at 07:20h in Daily current-affairs by rahul123 0 Comments

0 Likes

Context:

The ministry of environment, Forest, and climate change will launch an elephant population assessment and estimating initiative next year, similar to the tiger population assessment and estimation.
For the first time, it will involve the identification of each elephant, its clusters, as well as the health and nutrition levels of each elephant, which will be carried out in collaboration with the ministry’s partners, such as the wildlife institute of India.
The Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister revealed the population estimation protocol to be used for the project on World Elephant Day. According to ministry officials, this will be the first time tigers, leopards, and elephants would be counted together.
The minister emphasized the importance of local communities and indigenous peoples in elephant conservation, stating that a bottom-up approach is a way forward in reducing human-elephant conflict.

About:
Methodology of the census:

According to ministry officials, the technique for next year’s assessment entails “rigorous statistical assessments of ground data on animal signs, human influences, habitat features, and absolute density; it is significantly more accurate than previous procedures.”
Ground surveys, analysis of remotely sensed data, and camera traps will all be part of the assessment’s three phases. While this technology has long been used to assess tigers and leopards, it will be utilized for the first time to estimate elephant populations.
Human footprint indicators, landscape characteristics, and habitat quality will all be evaluated by the agencies. A panel of microsatellite markers derived from dung DNA will be used to identify individual elephants.
Trained biologists and department officials will sample elephant groups for demographic data and bodily conditions as part of Phase III. Elephants will be classified as young or old depending on their size and bodily features such as ears and tusks. The nutritional status of the animals will be determined depending on their bodily state.

Asian elephants:

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the continent’s largest living land animal and may be found across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and Borneo in the east.
IUCN Status: Due to a population reduction of at least 50% in the last three elephant generations (60–75 years), the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
Threat: Loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation, and poaching are the main threats.
In 2019, the wild population was predicted to number 48,323-51,680 persons. Female captive elephants have lived to be over 60 years old when kept in semi-natural environments like forest camps. In zoos, Asian elephants die at a younger age, and captive populations are declining due to low birth and high mortality rates.

Source: The Indian Express
Syllabus: GS 3 (Environment)

Yojna IAS Current Affairs Team