Assam, Meghalaya & Arunachal Pradesh Figure In Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) List

NEW DELHI: Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are included in the 101 lists of elephant corridors that the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and concerned State governments are working to protect for pachyderm.

“We are working on 101 reserved elephant corridors with different State governments and their Forest departments so that the corridors remain intact,” said Upasana Ganguly, Head of WTI’s wild land division.

She said that seven corridors have been blocked over the last few years. ‘These were either blocked or closed due to rapid industrialization and developing township,” said Ganguly.

It was in 2012, the WTI conducted a survey across India and found 101 existing elephant corridors.

Besides the three north-eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, the list also includes Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The WTI is working on the ‘Right of Passage: The National Elephant Corridors Project’ in these States.

Man-elephant conflicts are reported from Assam and Meghalaya every year.

“On an average 400-450 people die in man-elephant conflicts every year whereas the elephant casualty has crossed 100,” said the WTI official.

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