On Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the founding of World Elephant Day , we take a moment to celebrate. Along with our festivities for the...
On Thursday, the 10th anniversary of the founding of World Elephant Day, we take a moment to celebrate. Along with our festivities for the Olympic wins (and Neeraj Chopra’s marvellous gold), we rejoice a similar jubilant moment at home – the release earlier this month of the elephant named Rivaldo back in the wild in the Mudumalai Forest Reserve by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department after his treatment and recovery from injury.
The release and rewilding of an elephant is not an easy task. It requires scientific assessment, planning, regular monitoring, but above all a commitment to honour the inherent right of the elephant to live a natural life. This commitment shown by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has the capacity to abolish misguided belief systems that argue that captivity can be a humane alternative in the life of elephants.
India has the largest population of elephants (Asian Elephants, Elephas Maximus), estimated roughly at 27,000. Of these, approximately 2,500 are held in captivity. While some elephants are in zoos or with forest departments, almost 1,700 elephants are privately owned either by temples or private individuals.
Human-elephant conflict
There has been a substantial decline in poaching and hunting of elephants in recent decades. In the 1970s, India’s wild elephant population was estimated at...
