News Highlights:
- Recently, the MoEF&CC has announced the completion of the DNA Profiling of 270 elephants to ensure better protection while celebrating the 30 years of ‘Project Elephant’.
- The objective is to develop a comprehensive database of all captive elephants in the country.
DNA Profiling of Elephants
- About
- The DNA profiling of elephants will be done to develop a scientific method of population estimation.
- The DNA profiling was started in August 2022 for Gaj Soochna Mobile Application for forest officials.
- DNA profiling is the process where a specific DNA pattern, called a profile, is obtained from a sample of bodily tissue.
- The DNA profiling will act as the ‘Adhaar card of captive elephants’.
- The captive elephants had earlier been chipped electronically, but the method was unsuccessful.
- Significance:
- With the mobile app, forest officers can identify each elephant and track it; therefore, its transfer, which often happens in the case of captive elephants, can be recorded.
- After the elephant profiling, more focus can be put on elephant care with unique information about elephants.
- Unlike Project Tiger, Project Elephant also looks at captive elephants’ welfare and health.
Project Elephant:
- About:
- Project Elephant is a Central Government sponsored scheme launched in February 1992.
- Through the Project Elephant scheme, the government helps protect and manage elephants in the states with wild elephants in a free-ranging population.
- It ensures the protection of elephant corridors and habitats for the elephant population’s survival in the wild.
- Objectives:
- To ensure the Welfare of domesticated elephants
- Protection of elephants, their habitats and elephant corridors.
- Mitigation and prevention of human-elephant conflict.
- Aims of Project Elephant:
- Develop and promote scientific and planned management strategies for Elephant conservation.
- Prevent the illegal trade of ivory and ensure elephant protection from hunters and poachers.
- Develop strategies to prevent unnatural causes of elephant death in India.
- Ensure ecological restoration of the natural elephant habitats and their migratory routes.
- To mitigate and prevent the increasing conflict between humans and elephants in elephant habitats.
- Reduce and remove domestic livestock grazing, the pressure of humans and their activities in important elephant habitats.
- Promote scientific research on issues related to elephant conservation and educate the public on these issues.
- To facilitate veterinary care for proper breeding and health care of domesticated elephants and Eco-development for the elephants.
Initiatives for Elephant protection:
- Project Elephant – MIKE Programme:
- MIKE, the abbreviation of the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants program, was started in South Asia in 2003 after the conference of parties a resolution of CITES.
- MIKE aimed to provide the information with the elephant range countries required for proper management and long-term protection of their elephant populations.
- Campaign Haathi Mere Saathi:
- The Ministry of Environment and forests, in partnership with Wildlife Trust of India, has launched a campaign called Hathi Mere Sathi.
- The campaign aimed to increase public awareness and develop friendships between elephants and the local population.
- The campaign Haathi Mere Saathi was for the welfare of the elephants and to conserve and protect the elephants in India.
- Elephant Task Force:
- The increased tension due to rampant retaliatory killing of elephants and human-elephant conflict prompted the government to set up the Elephant Task Force along the lines of the Tiger Task Force.
- The focus of the Elephant Task Force was to bring pragmatic solutions for the conservation of elephants in the long term.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: The Indian Express