World Elephant Day: Largest animal running out of space, time

The remarks from the Prime Minister and Environment Minister came on World Elephant Day, which was first observed on August 12, 2012, with the initiative of Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims and the society of elephant conservation in Thailand ‘Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand’.

The day aims to bring together individuals to raise voices against issues threatening the survival of elephants and work together towards the conservation of the species.

According to worldelephantday.org, “there is a need to work together on this critical global issue which demands cooperation across borders and political lines.” As per a report on the website, the population of elephants has declined by 62 per cent over the last decade and it may get extinct by the end of the next decade.

It has been estimated, according to the report, that over 100 African elephants are killed every day by poachers for ivory, bones and flesh. The total population of African elephants presently is nearly 4,00,000.

The price of ivory, banned internationally in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), has risen three times. The other specie, Asian elephants, biologically different from Africans and cannot be crossbred, are spread across 13 countries of Asia, and just 40,000 are left as they too become the victim of the ivory trade as well as captured for entertainment purposes, circus shows and religious activities.

Studies have shown that the life span of an elephant reduces under captivity as it suffers from depression and trauma. Moreover, the shrinking of wild space due to the development of infrastructures like highways and railways is threatening their survival as elephants are losing habitats and many times encroach on human settlements leading to man-animal conflicts.

Union Environment Minister last year told Parliament that the man-elephant conflict caused 1,401 human and 301 elephant deaths in India from 2018-2020.

To conserve elephants, whose population as per the last count in 2017 was  29,964, India launched ‘Project Elephant’ in 1992. Under the project, the government provides technical and financial help to states to save elephants.

Strong legislature and strict enforcement are needed to curb the ivory trade, educate the masses about the importance of elephants in wildlife and conserve and expand the forest areas, as well as global efforts are the need of the hour if we want the future generation to see elephants, the report added.