Why in news?

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) released its ‘Status of Elephants in India’ report, estimating 22,446 elephants across four major landscapes.

This figure appears lower than the 2017 estimate of 29,964, but the WII clarified that the new DNA-based estimation method, used for the first time, establishes a fresh scientific baseline for future population monitoring rather than serving as a direct comparison with earlier counts.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why India Switched to a New DNA-Based Method for Counting Elephants
• SAIEE 2021–25: A Scientific Overhaul of India’s Elephant Census
• Western Ghats Lead as India’s Strongest Elephant Habitat
• Fragmented Habitats and Rising Conflicts Threaten India’s Elephants

Why India Switched to a New DNA-Based Method for Counting Elephants?

• India’s elephant population estimates have evolved significantly since the first count in 1929 in the United Province (now Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand).
• Early surveys, up to 1978, relied on direct visual counts, averaging sightings recorded at 10-day intervals.
• With the launch of Project Elephant in 1992, population estimation became a five-year exercise using varied techniques such as total count, waterhole count, dung count, and transect sampling.
• However, since different states used different methods, comparisons across regions and years were inconsistent.
• To address this, the Synchronised Elephant Census in 2005, 2010, and 2017 introduced uniform counting methods — including total (direct) counts and line transect dung (indirect) counts. Yet, limitations like observer bias and overcounting persisted.
• Recognising these challenges, India adopted the Synchronous All-India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) for 2021–25, which employs a DNA-based approach.
• This approach provides a more accurate, scientific, and comparable baseline for future elephant population monitoring.

SAIEE 2021–25: A Scientific Overhaul of India’s Elephant Census

• The Synchronous All-India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) 2021–25 marks a major methodological shift in tracking Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), which now occupy only a fraction of their historical range.
• The 2017 census had estimated 29,964 elephants, but the SAIEE recorded 22,446 — a drop of 7,518.
• However, experts from the WII and State Forest Departments cautioned against direct comparison.
  • SAIEE introduced a new scientific framework, excluded areas like the Andaman Islands (due to budget limits), and aimed to establish a fresh baseline for future monitoring.
• Under SAIEE, India was divided into 100 sq. km cells, further split into 4 sq. km grids, each uniquely coded to enable consistent spatial comparisons.
• Enumerators walked 6,66,977 km, surveying 1,88,030 trails and transects, and collected 21,056 dung samples.
• The process unfolded in three phases:
  • Phase I: Collected field data on animal signs, dung counts, vegetation, and human disturbances.
  • Phase II: Assessed habitat quality and human impacts, including forest cover and patch size.
  • Phase III: Used the data for spatially explicit abundance estimation, factoring in both habitat and human influence.
• The SAIEE thus represents India’s most comprehensive and scientifically rigorous elephant census, creating a uniform national baseline for long-term conservation efforts.

Western Ghats Lead as India’s Strongest Elephant Habitat

• The ‘Status of Elephants in India’ study covered four major elephant-bearing landscapes, revealing that over half of India’s elephants live in the Western Ghats region.
• Western Ghats (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu)
  • Home to 11,934 elephants (53.17%), this landscape supports the largest population.
  • Karnataka: 6,013 elephants
  • Tamil Nadu: 3,136 elephants
  • Kerala: 2,785 elephants
• North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains (7 NE States + North Bengal)
  • Account for 22.22% of India’s elephants, led by Assam with 4,159 elephants, making it the second-largest habitat zone.
• Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains (Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar): Hold 9.18% of the national total, with Uttarakhand leading at 1,792 elephants.
  • Central India and Eastern Ghats (AP, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, S. West Bengal, etc.):
    • Contain 8.42% of India’s elephants, with Odisha hosting 912 elephants.
• Overall, the findings underscore the Western Ghats’ pivotal role in elephant conservation, while highlighting the significant but smaller populations spread across India’s northeastern, northern, and central landscapes.

Fragmented Habitats and Rising Conflicts Threaten India’s Elephants

• The study highlights severe fragmentation of elephant habitats caused by commercial plantations (coffee, tea), invasive species, farmland fencing, mining, encroachments, and development projects.
• This degradation is forcing elephants to move into new areas — including regions that haven’t seen elephants for nearly two centuries — triggering frequent human-elephant conflicts.
• A notable example is Andhra Pradesh, where elephants migrated from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka between 1980 and 1986, recolonising areas such as Kuppam and Palamaner in Chittoor district.
• Karnataka, while hosting India’s largest elephant population, faces intense conflict in regions like Nagarhole, Bandipur, and BRT Hills, where forest fires and monoculture plantations worsen habitat loss.
  • Kerala and Tamil Nadu face similar pressures, with the Nilgiris–Coimbatore belt witnessing 150 human and 170 elephant deaths so far.
• Experts warn that unchecked habitat fragmentation could escalate conflicts further and endanger elephant populations.
• They urge community engagement, awareness drives, and coexistence campaigns in both traditional habitats and newly colonised areas to ensure long-term conservation.