Agasthiyamalai Elephant reserve

Agasthiyamalai Elephant reserve

Subject: History

Section : Modern India

Context:

Context: The proposal to designate 1,197.48 sq.km in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli as the Agasthiyarmalai Elephant Reserve was approved by the Union Environment Ministry.

Concept:

• India has 31 Elephant Reserves.
• In the last 3 years, Dandeli Elephant Reserve of Karnataka, Singphan Elephant Reserve by Nagaland and LemruElephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh.
• This has brought the total area under Elephant Reserves in India to about 76,508 sqkm across 14 states of the country.
• The current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000 – 60000 Asian elephants in the world. More than 60% of the population is held in India.
• Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species in the recently concluded Conference of Parties of CMS 13 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat in February 2020.
• World Elephant Day is being celebrated to bring attention of various stakeholders to support various conservation policies to help elephants, including improving enforcement policies to prevent the illegal poaching and trade of ivory, conserving elephant habitats, providing better treatment for captive elephants and reintroducing some captive elephants into sanctuaries.
• Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India and India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.
• World Elephant Day celebrated on August 12 is an international annual event, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world’s elephants.
• As Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India, India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.
• Asian elephants are listed as “Endangered” and African elephants as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
• Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species and Schedule 1 of WPA, 1972.
• Project Elephant: It is a centrally sponsored scheme which was launched in 1992 for their protection. The population of these animals was about 15000 when the project was started and has increased since then. It also led to setting up of different programs and agencies such as MIKE- Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants and the Elephant Task Force (2003)

Agasthiyamalai Elephant reserve

• The Agasthiyamalai in Tamil Nadu, adding 1197 sqkm of Protected Area dedicated for protection and conservation of elephants in India.
• Asian elephant numbers in the Periyar-Agasthyamalai landscape are estimated to be 1,800 (Census 2010).
• About 300 of them are found alone on the southern side in the Agasthiyarmalai Elephant Reserveand Mahendragiri hill ranges in the Neyyar, Shendurney, and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, all located in Thiruvananthapuram Forest Division.
• The Periyar-Agasthyamalai region, which spans 5,600 sq km and 16 forest divisions in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is home to the elephant population to the south of this.
• The southern portion of the Periyar Plateau and its eastern spur, the Varushnad and Meghamalai hill ranges, the Achankoil valley, and the Agasthiyarmalai Elephant Reserve and Mahendragiri hill ranges on the southern side make up the elephant habitat in the landscape.
• It can connect the populations to other areas in the SrivilliputhurMeghamalai tiger reserve and with the Periyar landscapes.