Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the efforts of elephant conservationists on the occasion of World Elephant Day, and expressed happiness on the rise in the number of elephant reserves in the last eight years.
India has 60 per cent of all Asian Elephants, and it has 31 notified Elephant Reserves (ERs) spread across 14 states, according to Union Environment Ministry.
“On #WorldElephantDay, reiterating our commitment to protect the elephant. You would be happy to know that India houses about 60% of all Asian elephants. The number of elephant reserves has risen in the last 8 years. I also laud all those involved in protecting elephants,” Modi tweeted.
The prime minister also said that elephant conservation in India must be viewed in context of the larger efforts underway to minimise human-animal conflict.
“The successes in elephant conservation must be viewed in context of the larger efforts underway in India to minimise human-animal conflict, and integrating local communities and their traditional wisdom in furthering environmental consciousness,” Modi tweeted on Friday.
The Environment and Forests Ministry launched the Project Elephant in 1992 to provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts by states for their free-ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
Elephant reserves in India include:
1. Mayurjharna ER(24.10.02) West Bengal. 414
2. Singhbhum ER (26.9.01) Jharkhand- 4530
3. Mayurbhanj ER (29.9.01) Odisha. 3214.
4. Mahanadi ER (20.7.02) Odisha. 1038.
5. Sambalpur ER (27.3.02) Odisha. 427.
6. Badalkhol-Tamorpingla. (15.9.2011) Chhattisgarh. ...
7. Kameng ER (19.6.02) Arunachal. 1892.
8. Sonitpur ER (6.3.03) Assam. 1420.
9. Periyar (2.4.02) Kerala- Tamilnadu. 3742
10. Srivilliputtur ER (19.9.03) Tamil Nadu 1249
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