(IN): Ministry has mammoth plans for jumbos

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http://www.dailypioneer.com/235836/Ministry-has-mammoth-plans-for-jumbos.html

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*Ministry has mammoth plans for jumbos*

 

*M Madhusudan | New Delhi*

 

*Sets up panel to draft policy for elephant conservation*

 

Home to 60 per cent of the global wild Asian elephants, India has now woken

up to the cause of its pachyderms with a “fresh impetus” and decided to set

up an institutional framework” on par with its flagship Project Tiger

scheme.

 

Realising that its scheme, Project Elephant, could make only a “limited

impact” since it was launched in 1992, the Environment Ministry has decided

to draft a new “effective and practical” policy for better conservation and

management of the mammals.

 

In view of the cultural and ecological significance of the species, accorded

the highest protection by being listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife

(Protection) Act, 1972, the Government has decided to develop an

“institutional framework” at the Central and State level, which is not only

on par with its flagship scheme Project Tiger but enjoys the same stature.

 

On Friday, the Ministry set up a high-level Task Force to draft the roadmap

for strengthening elephant conservation in India.

 

Importantly, the 11-member Task Force, with Dr Mahesh Rangarajan of the

Delhi University and an expert of wildlife and forestry as its chairman,

also has the brief to examine issues related to human-elephant conflicts and

suggest short- and long-term solutions. It will also identify, catalogue and

define elephant reserves and ranges at the landscape level, on the lines of

Project Tiger.

 

The Task Force, which is required to submit its report in May this year, has

also been asked to recommend measures and strategies for the suitable use of

captive elephants, an issue which has been neglected over the years leading

to gross violation of laid down existing norms in this regard.

 

“The institutional framework could be on the lines of the National Tiger

Conservation Authority and those at the tiger reserves,” sources said.

 

As things stand, India’s wild elephant population is pegged at 27,694 as per

the last census carried out in 2007. This is an increase of over 12,000 in

the last three decades. However, India doesn’t have an inkling of the

present strength of captive elephants. For, the last survey was done way

back in 2000, and which put their numbers at 3,567.

 

Ideally, the next survey should have been five years down the line but it is

yet to be conducted. The Centre’s insistence on carrying out the survey has

failed to evoke much response from the States.

 

A study on the health of captive elephants with the focus on tuberculosis

conducted by the Bangalore-based NGO Asian Nature and Conservation

Foundation in 2008 found that over 15 per cent of them suffered from the

diseases in southern India. In all, the health of 387 captive elephants in

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was

studied. It was found 59 of them had TB. Incidentally, the elephants at the

temples were the most affected.

<http://www.newsonair.com/news.asp?cat=national & id=NN2922>

 

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