A countrywide census finds 10,139 elephants in the region
BY OUR STAFF
REPORTER
GUWAHATI, Oct 3: In a development that will enthuse wildlife lovers and conservationists, the jumbo population in the Northeast has touched the 5 digit figure.
And there are more reasons to cheer as the ‘gentle giants’ have made their presence felt in Mizoram and Manipur after a long time.
A countrywide elephant estimation carried out recently by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has found altogether 10,139 elephants in the Northeast. In the 2012 census, 9,239 elephants were counted in this region.
The latest census report designed as Synchronized Elephant Population Estimation India 2017 has revealed that a herd of 5 to 7 elephants is moving to Mizoram in certain seasons. The herd moves between India (Assam and Mizoram) and Bangladesh across the intertiol border. Filly, 7 elephants were counted for Mizoram by census enumerators.
In Manipur, a herd of 8 to 9 elephants has been reported along the eastern banks of the Barak river, bordering galand. “This herd appeared to be isolated without having any habitat connectivity,” the census report said, filly counting 9 elephants in Manipur.
An Assam Forest department official associated with different tiol projects on elephants said jumbos in Mizoram and Manipur have been reported after a long gap. The presence of the pachyderm was last reported in Mizoram in 2007 and in Manipur in 2002.
As per the census, Assam has the maximum number of elephants at 5,719, followed by 1,754 in Meghalaya and 1,614 in Aruchal Pradesh. Assam also has the second highest elephant population in the country after Kartaka (6,049). Elephants are found in 36 forest divisions in Assam.
The jumbo population increased in Assam from 5,620 in 2012 to 5,719 this year, Aruchal Pradesh from 890 to 1,614, galand from 212 to 446 and Tripura from 59 to 102. Meghalaya did not carry out a census in 2012 but the elephant population was 1,811 in the 2007 census.
A population of 27,312 elephants has been estimated from 23 States in the country by the direct count method.
The development has come at a time when the Northeast region, particularly Assam, is faced with the tough challenge of elephant smuggling and poaching. Sources said while a section of smugglers are supplying jumbos outside the State, the poachers smuggle the tusks outside the country. According to sources, some of the poachers are members of rebel groups and use the money earned from such illegal trade to procure automatic firearms.