Protection, preservation of elephants our national duty: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Congress leader and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said elephant population has declined in the country, and it is our national duty to protect and preserve the species.

In a post on X, Ramesh said the much-delayed elephant census has just been released, and the results are, "strictly speaking, not comparable to the previous surveys because of the changes in methodology and techniques".

"Even so, there is a very high probability that the elephant population has declined over the past decade. The new census estimates the current elephant population between 18,255 and 26,645," he noted.

His remarks came in the wake of the government carrying out the first DNA-based count of India's wild elephant numbers, which have dropped by 18 per cent.

"The threats come from changing land use, loss of traditional habitats, fragmentation of elephant movement pathways and corridors both within and outside the protected areas, pressures from mining and infrastructure projects, invasive plant species, and conflict with humans," Ramesh, who was the environment minister in the UPA regime from 2009-2011, said.

"Methodologies will get refined. What is more important to recognise is that the elephant faces a crisis perhaps not of extinction but of attrition," Ramesh said.

He claimed that the amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, introduced three years back have not helped.

He also cited his speech in Parliament on the issue sometime back.

"On October 22, 2010, elephant was declared the national heritage animal of India in recognition of its unique status in our religious, cultural, and ecological history. Its protection and preservation is our national duty. 'Haathi' is indeed our 'Saathi'," the Congress leader said.

India's wild elephant population has been estimated at 22,446, lower than the 2017 figures of 27,312, according to the country's first-ever DNA-based count.

Officials, however, cautioned that the two cannot be compared because of a change in methodology.

The All-India Synchronous Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) 2025 puts India's elephant population between 18,255 and 26,645, with an average of 22,446.

The government released the long-delayed report on Tuesday, nearly four years after the survey began in 2021.

Officials said the delay was due to the complex genetic analysis and data validation involved in the exercise. PTI SKC ARI