Environment Minister Yadav emphasises on identifying areas of human-elephant conflict

Today on World Elephant Day 2021, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav emphasized identifying the areas of human-elephant conflict and working towards it. Every year, the day is observed for creating awareness regarding the conservation and protection of elephants on the planet. 

Environment Minister on World Elephant Day

Speaking on this day, Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav in his speech highlighted the importance of conservation. 

He said, "Conservation cannot happen through theories, we have to reach them, we have to believe that locals, as well as departments both, are the trustees. We need to identify the areas where human-elephant conflict exists. And one should visit there in person. We have to keep working on our policy to decrease the conflict.".

Earlier, Minister Yadav took to Twitter and wrote, "India has a large population of wild Asian elephants because we revere our wildlife. On #WorldElephantDay2021, will release the population estimation protocol for all-India elephant and tiger population estimation in 2022 by 9:30 am.".

He also shared pictures from the event and announced the release of the protocol for the exercise of converging elephant and tiger population estimation.

World Elephant Day 2021

World Elephant Day is observed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change for creating awareness and drawing attention towards the conflict between animals and humans. On World Elephant Day 2021, the issue of wildlife conflict has been highlighted as it has become a critical challenge in the country. 

It has been estimated that the highest number of Asian elephants is found in India which is 30,000 while less than 50,000 elephants that live in the forest. Furthermore, there are 2,700 captive elephants in the country.

The estimation further states that the number of elephants in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam has dropped drastically. According to recent data by World Wide Fund for Nature, there are only 440,000 elephants left on this planet. However, the number may soon fall due to the rise in elephant poaching. 

The day was first observed in 2012 for bringing attention to the plight of Asian and African elephants. Since then, the day has been observed every year. 

(Image Credits: PTI/Unsplash)