India’s efforts to conserve elephants are inadequate, according to an Indo-Canadian biologist. With 1,200 elephants killed in the past 10 years, including 245 in the last three years in Odisha, the population of these gentle giants is at grave risk. Currently, India is home to only 27,000 elephants. Kerala has lost 58% of its wild elephants in the past six years, highlighting the lack of urgency in addressing the crisis. Sangita Iyer, a wildlife filmmaker and conservationist, believes that India still has a long way to go in terms of elephant conservation. She points out that while India has good wildlife protection laws, they are not being enforced effectively.
One major concern is the recent amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which allows the transfer of elephants between states and creates loopholes that could be exploited for illegal elephant captures. Additionally, the existing laws are not being enforced adequately. Iyer highlights the case of a pregnant elephant in West Bengal that died after being mistakenly darted by officers. She calls for accountability and wonders if the officers responsible will face the seven-year jail sentence prescribed by the Wildlife Protection Act.
In June, Iyer addressed the UK Parliament along with British MP Henry Smith, urging Indian authorities to take urgent action against the alarming number of elephant deaths caused by electrocution, poaching, and habitat loss. Iyer also highlighted the issues in Odisha, where electrocution and train track deaths of elephants are happening at an alarming rate due to mining and poaching. Rampant mining, roadways, railways, and illegal human encroachment have resulted in an 80% loss of elephant habitats.
While tiger conservation in India has been a success story, Iyer believes that Project Elephant has failed to produce tangible results. She points out the lack of information regarding the accomplishments of Project Elephant, such as the Gaja report and the elephant census, which has not been conducted since 2017. The census is crucial for understanding the elephant gender ratio, as currently, only 4.4% of the total elephant population in India are males, creating a serious gender disparity.
Iyer suggests several measures to save elephants, including imposing fines for littering from trains, raising awareness among decision-makers about the importance of elephants as climate mitigators and ecosystem engineers, and addressing the issue of jobless and unproductive individuals in elephant range states who often harass elephants.
In collaboration with grassroots organizations and state governments, Iyer and her organization, Voice for Asian Elephants Society (VFAES), have launched various projects in India since 2018. These projects aim to create waterholes, plant saplings, install road signages, and implement technology like EleSense, which detects the presence of elephants.
Efforts like these are crucial to protect India’s elephants and conserve their dwindling population. However, there is a need for genuine commitment and action from authorities, along with stricter enforcement of wildlife protection laws.
The plight of India’s elephants highlights the urgent need for comprehensive conservation efforts and collaboration among stakeholders to ensure the survival of these magnificent creatures.
