Important for
Prelims: Geography and environment
Mains: General Studies I
30 yrs. of Project Elephant
- Celebrating the 30 years of ‘Project Elephant’, the MoEF&CC has announced the completion of the DNA Profiling of 270 elephants
About Project Elephant
- It was launched in 1992 as a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme.
- Aim to protect elephants and improve their habitat and corridors.
- To reduce Human-elephant conflict.
Status of Elephants in India
- India is home to 20% of the global captive Asian elephant population.
- Nilgiri landscape has the largest single population of the endangered Asian elephant.
- As per Elephant Census (2017), Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054).
About Asian Elephant
- IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
- CITES: Appendix I
About DNA Profiling
- The DNA profiling was started in August 2022 for Gaj Soochna Mobile Application for forest officials.
- The DNA profiling will act as the ‘Adhaar card’ of captive elephants.
India’s Initiatives :
- Gaj Yatra is a nationwide awareness campaign to celebrate elephants and highlights the necessity of securing elephant corridors.
- MIKE programme–(Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants)
- launched in 2003,
- Against illegal killing of elephants from across Africa and Asia, to monitor effectiveness of field conservation efforts.
Practice Questions for Prelims
Consider the following statements about Project Elephant
1. It was launched in 1992 by the Ministry of Environment & Forests.
2. Its objective is to provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts by states for their free-ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
Choose the correct statements
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans. c
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