Supreme Court seeks Centre’s stand on having statutory body for elephants.

• The Supreme Court asked the Centre whether it intended to have a statutory authority for protecting elephants.
• In 2010, the ‘Gajah report’ from Elephant Task Force made a slew of recommendations to protect and preserve the elephant population, including the:
• Constitution of a statutory National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA) on the lines of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

 About Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus)

• It is a keystone species playing a critical role in sustenance of wildlife and biodiversity.
• IUCN Status: Endangered
• In Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species.
• In Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• More than 60 % of the population of Asian elephants is found in India.

Concerns:

• Frequent Human- Elephant conflict and high number of unnatural deaths of elephants.
• As of December 2022, India has lost 494 elephants to train accidents, electrocution, poaching and poisoning over the past five years.

Initiatives for Elephant Safety

• Project Elephant, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 1992 for management of wildlife and its habitats in the country.
• In 2010, it was declared India’s National Heritage Animal.
• Approval to 33 Elephant Reserves by Centre with a total area of nearly 80,000 sq km.
  • In 2022, Terai Elephant Reserve (TER) was set up in Uttar Pradesh.