There was once a time, not very long ago when there were over 2,000 elephants in Odisha and the entire landscape from the coast of Mahanadi to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and the Mahanadi Elephant Reserve was a single uninterrupted habitat for the elephants to roam. As times changed, villages, agriculture, urban developments, and infrastructure […]
Book Review: The Tusk That Did The Damage
It is not often that a book of fiction is written based on the story of an elephant. It is even rarer when the author tries to see a situation as sensitive as human-animal conflict from the perspective of the human and also the animal and yet maintain a neutral ground. In ‘The Tusk That […]
Decades old Elephant Pits pose Danger to Animals in Kerala Forests
About 60 abandoned elephant capture pits that were created a decade ago in the forest ranges of Ernakulam district in Kerala pose a serious threat not only to the pachyderms for which it was first dug, but also other wild animals in these forests. The practice of capturing elephants using pits was officially banned by […]
Technology to the Rescue of Elephants along Railway Tracks
Technology will now be employed to ensure the safety of elephants that are at risk of being killed by passing trains. In an affidavit issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the government has recommended the use of technology, especially electronic surveillance, to curb the number of elephant deaths due to collision with […]
Find the Age of an Elephant from its Call
Did you know that you could get an accurate estimate of the age of an elephant just by analyzing the frequency of its call? Recent research has shown that it is in fact possible to calculate the age of an elephant from the low frequency long distance call sounds made by them. In a paper […]
‘SMS’ for Elephants: Innovative Idea Resolves Man-Elephant Conflict
CONSERVATION SUCCESS: An early warning system using SMSes or text messages is now showing results, reducing the human-pachyderm conflict in the Anamalai hills of Tamil Nadu. Read the story in this guest post by Ananda Banerjee. One night the watchman at the Parry Agro tea factory in Valparai, Tamil Nadu, saw a man getting off […]
Captive Elephants Now Available For Hire!
In a significant setback to elephant conservation efforts in the country, the Kerala state government recently gave the green signal for the commercial use of captive elephants. The controversial proposal requesting for permission to let out captive elephants for hire was put forward by the Chief Conservator of Forests in the Department of Forests in […]
Invasive Species Eating Away Forest Cover Of Andaman Islands
The tropical rainforests of Andaman Islands are facing a bizarre ecological as well as economic crisis, due to the no-hunting policy of the Indian Government. Invasive species such as deer and elephants are fast eating into the pristine forest cover of these islands as there are no natural predators to keep their numbers in check. […]
First Centre to help Captive Elephants of India
In 2009 the Central Zoo Authority of India banned elephants from being part of zoos or circuses in the country. The mandate was clearly a rushed affair as the authorities did not plan the next step regarding the need to provide a separate shelter for the rescued animals. Now three years later, Elephant Aid International has finally come to the aid of these captive elephants and is about to create India’s first Elephant Care and Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore.
Elephants Saved from Being Hit by a Train in Assam
Thanks to the quick thinking action of a patrolling team a herd of 15 elephants was recently saved from a fatal collision with a train in the deepor beel railway stretch near Guwahati in Assam. The patrolling has till date prevented 80 accidents of such kind in the state.