Project Elephant

Project Elephant is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered Indian elephant. The project was initiated in 1992 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India to provide financial and technical support to the states for wildlife management of free-ranging elephant populations. The project aims to ensure the long-term survival and viability of elephant populations in their natural habitats by protecting the animals, their habitats and migration corridors. The project also facilitates research of ecology and management of elephants, creating awareness of conservation among local people, and providing veterinary care for captive elephants.

History and objectives
Project Elephant was initiated in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. The project was initiated to protect the Indian elephant and its habitats and to establish dedicated elephant reserves for sustaining elephant populations. The project was established to provide financial and technical support to the states with free ranging elephant population for the protection of the animals, their habitats and migration corridors. It was also intended to address human-animal conflict and promote welfare of captive elephants. The project has been implemented in 22 States and union territories of India. The project also undertakes activities aimed at constructing infrastructure and other facilities for conservation like veterinary care, field force training, necessary capture and translocation of wild elephants. With regards to captive elephants, the project aims to ensure the well being of such elephants including providing veterinary care, training of mahouts and supervisory staff.



Another important aim of the scheme is to prevent poaching of wild elephants. Project Elephant has been formally implementing MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme of CITES since January 2004. It facilitates taking suitable measures like deployment of patrolling squads, intelligence gathering, maintaining data on illegal hunting and to determine factors responsible for poaching and to take appropriate measures to mitigate the same. Project Elephant also facilitates various research activities through the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) such as developing crop varieties not favored by elephants, developing elephant-proof storage bins for food grains and developing elephant repellents in order to reduce human-animal conflicts. It has also engaged in research regarding disease-management in captive elephants and efficacy of immuno-contraceptives on domesticated elephants with Assam Agricultural University, monitoring and tracking of elephants with Wildlife Institute of India. Project Elephant also promotes eco-tourism for generating extra revenue for the welfare of captive breeding programmes for elephants, organizes courses for veterinarians and mahouts dealing with domesticated elephants and in promoting awareness on elephant conservation across communities.

Elephant population
The first exclusive exercise for enumeration of wild elephants in the elephant reserves was conducted in 2005. This exercise also sought to experiment with two sampling methods, viz. Block sampling and Line transect-Dung Count. As of the last elephant count in 2017, the population of wild elephants in the country has increased to 29,964 as compared to 27,669-27,719 in 2007. As of 2017, the estimated wild population in India account for nearly three-fourths of the extant population.

There are about 138 identified elephant corridors in India with the majority of the elephant population in India is restricted to four general areas.

Elephant reserves
As of 2023, 33 Elephant Reserves (ERs) extending nearly 80778 km2 across 14 states have been formally notified.