The country’s wild elephant population estimates have dropped sharply by a quarter, a government survey incorporating a new DNA system has found, marking the most accurate but sobering count yet.
India is home to the majority of the world’s remaining wild Asian elephants, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and increasingly threatened by shrinking habitat.
The Wildlife Institute of India’s new All-India Elephant Estimation report released this week puts the wild elephant population at 22,446 – down from nearly 29,964 estimated in 2017, a fall of 25%.
The survey drew on genetic analysis of more than 21,000 dung samples, alongside a vast network of camera traps and 667,000km of foot surveys.
But researchers said the methodological overhaul meant the results were “not comparable to past figures and may be treated as a new monitoring baseline”.
But the report also warned that the figures reflect deepening pressures on one of India’s most iconic animals.
“The present distribution of elephants in India represents a mere fraction of their historical range,” it said, estimating they now occupy only about 3.5% of the area they once roamed.
Habitat loss, fragmentation, and increasing human-elephant conflict are driving the decline.
“Electrocution and railway collisions cause a significant number of elephant fatalities, while mining and highway construction disrupt habitats, intensifying man-wildlife conflicts,” the report added.
The Western Ghats, lush southern highlands stretching through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, remain a key stronghold with nearly 12,00 elephants.
But even there, populations are increasingly cut off from one another by commercial plantations, farmland fencing, and human encroachment. — AFP
