Andhra Pradesh seeks Karnataka’s help to address human-elephant conflict 

Andhra Pradesh seeks Karnataka’s help to address human-elephant conflict 

Subject: Env

Sec: Species in news

Context:

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan met Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre and sought the help of the Karnataka Forest Department to tackle man-elephant conflict in his State.

More on News:

• The Kumki elephants, which take part in Jumbo Savari during the Dasara celebrations in Mysuru, would not be given.
• They have around 103 semi-trained kumki elephants in our elephant camps.
• Karnataka has sent 67 kumki elephants to various States.
• In 2022-23, four elephants were sent to Uttar Pradesh, 14 to Madhya Pradesh, and three to Maharashtra.

MoU:

• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is a type of agreement between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) parties.
• Formal institutional arrangement between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Forest Departments for addressing man-animal conflict, deploying expert teams for elephant capturing, mahout training, training programme in running elephant camps, knowledge transfer, standard operating procedure for darting and capture of elephants, provide expertise in nutrition and food, workshop etc.
• During the meeting, Karnataka Forest officials disclosed to the Andhra Pradesh counterparts that they had seized ₹140 crore worth of red sanders in the State, which was smuggled from Andhra Pradesh.

Elephants

• Elephants in India:
  • Elephants are keystone species as well as the Natural Heritage Animal of India.
  • India has the largest number of wild Asian Elephants. The elephant population in the country is estimated to be over 30,000.
  • Karnataka has the highest elephant population in India.
• Conservation Status:
  • Convention of the Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
  • International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species:
    • Asian Elephant: Endangered
    • African Forest Elephant: Critically Endangered
    • African Savanna Elephant: Endangered
  • Conservative Efforts:
    • India:
      • Gaj Yatra
      • Project Elephant
    • Global:
      • Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme.
      • World Elephant Day.

• Status of Elephant Corridors in India:
  • The key findings of the Elephant Corridors of India, 2023 Report are as follows:
    • The report highlighted a surge of 62 new corridors, marking a 40% increase since 2010, now totalling 150 corridors across the nation.
    • West Bengal has the highest number of elephant corridors, totalling 26, constituting 17% of the total corridors.
    • The East central region contributes 35% (52 corridors), and the North East region follows as the second-largest with 32% (48 corridors).
    • Southern India registered 32 elephant corridors, representing 21% of the total, while northern India has the lowest count of 18 corridors, amounting to 12%.
    • Elephants have expanded their ranges in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and southern Maharashtra bordering Karnataka.