2022-08-19 - New Delhi, India.
Elephant-human conflicts have been on the rise in India as a result of habitat loss, and experts say such conflicts could get worse unless forested areas are protected and migration corridors restored. More than 1,500 people have died in elephant attacks in the country in the past three years, with 300 of the animals killed in retaliation, according to government figures, as authorities seek long-term solutions to minimize such incidents. By various estimates, including those prov...
2021-08-12 - New Delhi, India.
Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Bhupender Yadav on Thursday said that nature conservation should be taken up with a scientific approach involving the local community. Only technical advances cannot save environment. Without public participation, without traditional wisdom, we cannot carry out conservation," he said, while addressing an event organised by his ministry to mark the World Elephant Day.
2021-04-13 - New Delhi, India.
The elephant is regarded as India's National Heritage Animal. As per the 2017 census, the country housed a population of 27,312 elephants accounting for about 60% of the world's wild Asian elephant population! From this striking percentage, it appears that the country has managed to conserve its elephants quite commendably. However, the demands of development have led to the wanton destruction and fragmentation of elephant habitats across the country in recent decades. The future of India's wild...
2021-01-18 - New Delhi, India.
In the video, one can clearly see the woman lying comfortably on a low bed as the elephant is standing near her and massaging her back. The video was shared by a Twitter user named Aamir on Saturday (January 16) and ever since then it has garnered thousands of views, hundreds of likes, comments and retweets. However, the location of the video is not known yet.
2020-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
A 35-year-old elephant, named Ekadanta, passed away at Sakrebailu camp in Shivamogga. According to Sakrebailu forest officers, the death of the elephant was caused by cardiac arrest. His body was found in the Shettyhalli forest. Ekadanta was captured two years back from the forests in Sakleshpur, Hassan district.
2020-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Mukesh Ranjan
Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday fell on the ground while performing Yoga asanas. Yoga Guru was sitting atop a well-decorate elephant and performing Yoga asanas at the Guru Shardananda Ashram. But, as the elephant moved, he lost his balance and fell on the ground.
2020-10-08 - New Delhi, India.
55-year-old Arya, a blind elephant, has finally got medical aid and veterinary care at an elephant hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Farah town on Mathura district’s border. The facility is run by the NGO Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the UP Forest Department, which claim it is India’s first and only elephant hospital.
2017-02-26 - New Delhi, India.
The Central Zoo Authority has “fully backed†a proposal to ban the use of elephants in circuses, a fading remnant of pre-liberalisation India. The CZA has written to the chief wildlife wardens of the states to ensure the rehabilitation of the elephants which were in their possession. “The Central Zoo Authority fully supports proposal to stop use of elephants to perform in circuses,†member secretary of the CZA D N Singh has written to the Environment Ministry.
2017-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
Postmortem examination of a wild Asian elephant at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, India, revealed nodular lesions, granulomas with central caseation, and acid-fast bacilli in the lungs. PCR and nucleotide sequencing confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study indicates that wild elephants can harbor M. tuberculosis that can become fatal.
2016-11-29 - New Delhi, India.
As many as 213 persons have been killed in elephant attack in Odisha in the last three years from 2013 to 2016, said Environment, Forest and Climate Change minister Anil Madhav Dave answering an unstarred question raised by BJD parliamentarian Narendra Kumar Swain on Monday.
2016-11-28 - New Delhi, India.
Number of human deaths due to tiger attacks has gradually been declining, but there is no let up in the casualties due to elephant attacks in India. In both the cases, West Bengal has suffered the maximum human casualties in the past three years.
Famed temples in south India such as Kerala´s Guruvayoor, which parade richly-decorated jumbos during festivals like Pooram, may lose them forever. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) asking for such religious institutions ´Which keep wild animals in captivity´ be categorised as zoos.
2016-11-25 - New Delhi, Bangladesh.
The number of elephants crossing over to rice-growing districts South Bengal have increased over the years, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction Numbers tell the state of human-elephant conflict in Bengal: 108 people dead (out of which 71 were in south Bengal) and 14 elephants electrocuted last year. Since April this year, the conflict has left 18 people dead; two elephants have been electrocuted and two shot dead after they were declared rogue by the forest department.
2016-03-16 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said eight elephants were killed in 2014015 and 391 humans were killed by elephants. Nearly 400 people have died during 2014-15 due to human-elephant conflict in various parts of the country, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
2015-11-11 - New Delhi, India.
Maneka´s NGO People For Animals runs a rehabilitation centre for jumbos, billed as the country´s only such facility built on private initiative. The Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura was set up in 2010 and is now home to 18 elephants, most of them blind, lame, crippled or abandoned.
2015-11-10 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests is proposing to immunise female elephants with contraceptives in West Bengal and Odisha to control increase in their population in an attempt to avoid human-elephant conflict. “Immuno-contraception is a technique of contraception, which induces hormonal changes in female elephants. So far, this technique has not been tried on Asian elephants, but the model has been quite successful in African elephants,†said a senior Union Environment Ministry...
2015-10-20 - New Delhi, India.
According to a study, over 50% of Indian elephants are dying before puberty. To discuss the matter, a two-day international symposium on ´Ecology and Health Management of Asiatic Elephant´ will be organized in the national capital.
2015-04-18 - New Delhi, India.
Justice Madan B. Lokur of Social Justice Bench of Supreme Court on Friday didn´t take up the public interest litigation petition filed against preventing cruelty to elephants by parading them in temple festivals and in other places. However, Justice Lokur transferred the case to Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant.
2015-04-15 - New Delhi, India.
Elephants have been kept on the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi for hundreds of years but the changing environment of the city and mounting pressure from animal welfare activists look set to consign this ancient way of life to the history books. On Friday, India’s Supreme Court is expected to reach a decision on banning the use of captive elephants in religious functions, processions and other events.
2014-01-28 - New Delhi, India.
Devasthan Management Committee, which manages the famous Jyotiba temple in Kolhapur, today denied that elephant Sunder was tortured and starved during the last six years while it was under the temple´s care, as alleged by NGO PETA. The management committee of the temple, by a resolution passed on December 26, 2013, gifted Sunder to Warna Sahakari Dudh Utpadan Society. Accordingly, it has been shifted to the company premises where it walks in open air, said the affidavit.
2013-12-05 - New Delhi, India.
Seventy elephants have died on Bengal’s railway tracks since 1994, all but three of them in north Bengal, the state government has told the Supreme Court. According to the state’s affidavit, 57 elephants have died in train hits and 13 of electrocution on the tracks in the past 19 years. Since 2009, the number of elephants killed on Bengal’s railway tracks has been 29.
2013-10-02 - New Delhi, United States.
In a first experiment of this kind, the researchers recorded growls of tigers and leopards when they came upon elephants in the vicinity. There have been sporadic instances of use of predator sound playback to deter elephants or other animals, but in the long range they fail because the animals realize that it is a hoax. However, it is better to try out these methods than fight a costly and unjust war!
2013-01-07 - New Delhi, India.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) is planning to tell the Railway Board to ensure that trains slow down sufficiently in elephant corridors. This comes in the wake of Coromondel Express mowing down five elephants and a calf at Ganjam district on December 30 night. The train was running at 110 kmph when the accident happened.
2012-11-01 - New Delhi, India.
India´s Odisha state lost at least 296 elephants in the past five years, several victims of electrocution, officials said. State authorities and wildlife activists said the elephants died after coming in contact with hanging, live electricity wires, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty said the casualty rate has been about 10 per year.
2012-10-21 - New Delhi, India.
Owners - individuals, companies, temples and temple administration bodies like Devaswoms - will have to pay 12.36 per cent service tax on the earnings their elephants make for them per day. Service tax on earning made by elephants will come into force in April next. However, the elephants of the Department of Forests have been exempted from this. The Government has started collecting information on captive elephants as part of the introduction of service tax on earnings made from use of elephan...
2012-10-18 - New Delhi, India.
India’s top bureaucrats managing forests and elephants, and the wildlife conservation NGO community on Wednesday showcased public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives that promise to connect more of the 88 identified elephant corridors with forests, potentially reducing the stress on the species. On its part, the Centre is considering hiking compensation for voluntary resettlement of residents to increase habitat available to elephants and reduce human-elephant conflict.
2012-09-17 - New Delhi, India.
All temple elephants in Tamil Nadu state, in the far south of India, have been found to be obese with some more than 80 stone overweight, according to the BBC´s Tamil Service. Their condition is blamed partly on the lack of exercise caused by their captivity – many of them are chained close to the temple´s gates – and overfeeding by pilgrims who believe it will bring them blessings.
2012-03-15 - New Delhi, India.
Army veterinary doctors in Assam recently performed the difficult task of successfully treating an adult wild elephant after it pierced its foot with a six-inch long glass shrapnel. The Advance Field Veterinary Hospital (AFVH) in Misamari regularly helps the ailing animals brought there by forest officials and villagers. Recently the veterinary doctors there successfully treated a wild elephant with a glass piece embedded in its foot, Army officials said here.
2011-11-13 - New Delhi, India.
This elephant tumbled into a hole while walking in a tea plantation in India, according to the video. The animal struggles to get off its back to no avail, as a crowd gathers and attempts to help. In what appears to be a last-ditch effort, some locals bring in an excavator to dig out the elephant and give it a few friendly pushes.
2011-05-06 - New Delhi, India.
The Prime Minister´s Office has shot down a proposal to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority along the lines of one existing for tigers. The environment ministry had recommended an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act creating a powerful autonomous authority for the pachyderm. The authority was intended to create a network of elephant reserves which could be kept free of mining and other harmful industrial activities.
2011-02-09 - New Delhi, India.
The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the central government and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to ensure ´conducive´ atmosphere for a pair of elephants to be sent to Germany from Karnataka, as part of an exchange programme in which two pairs of cheetahs would be brought to India. ´Ensure that the elephants live in a conducive atmosphere in Germany,´ said a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
2010-11-22 - New Delhi, India. Press Information Bureau Government of India
The Ministry is considering for setting up of the National Elephant Conservation Authority. The details are yet to be finalized. The population of wild elephants in the country as per the census done in the year 2007-08 is in the range of 27,669 to 27,719 as compared to a 26,413 estimated in previous census done in the year 2002. The population of elephant in the country is increasing not declining. This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent char...
2010-10-26 - New Delhi, India.
Rajbhar Harmohinder Singh will forever rue the moment when he agreed to meet a ´foreign lady´ to try and sell her an ivory necklace. His dreams of the Rs 8.05 lakh illegal sale were horribly shattered when the man found out that his customer was none other than former environment minister, Maneka Gandhi. He was immediately put behind bars, sources said.
2010-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
The environment ministry on Friday declared the elephant a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. The ministry Friday issued a notification in this regard after the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) approved the proposal in its meeting held on Oct 13. The Elephant Task Force Aug 31 in its report had recommended the special status to elephants, saying the move will help in protecting the jumbos.
2010-08-31 - New Delhi, India.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday said the elephant would soon be declared a national heritage animal in order to step up measures for its protection. We will soon declare elephant as a national heritage animal as they have been part of our heritage since ages. We need to give same degree of importance to elephant as is given to tiger in order to protect the big animal, said Ramesh.
2010-03-02 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant hired for a Hindu wedding in India caused over £200,000 in damage after trying to reach an in-heat female. The turned-on mammal crushed 20 limos trying to get to the female in a nearby sugar cane field in the Indian capital New Delhi. He then mounted and attempted to mate with a truck, and smashed through a shopping mall in a 15-hour rampage, reports the Metro.
2010-01-15 - New Delhi, India. Archana Jyoti
It's a new year gift to nearly 1,000 elephants and other wild species who can now wander freely without any human interference through the Kollegal corridor in Karnataka. This has been made possible by an NGO, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) supported by its partner ? the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which has purchased nearly 25 acre-Kollegal (Edayarhalli?Doddasampige) elephant corridor from private ownership and transferred to the state government.
2009-12-14 - New Delhi, India.
The government has not taken any decision to free all captive elephants to wild, the Rajya Sabha was told today. However, a decision to rehabilitate captive elephants only from zoos to the wild has been taken, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, who is currently holding the charge of Environment Ministry, said in a written reply.
2009-11-26 - New Delhi, India.
Painting a grim picture of rising man-animal conflicts in the country, the government on Wednesday said as many as 1,090 people were killed by wild elephants, 11 by tigers and three by lions in various states in the last three years. "The states have reported damages of 15,312 houses and 87,269 cases of crop damage by wild elephants in the last three years," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said in Lok Sabha while replying to a written question.
2009-11-12 - New Delhi, India. Neha Lalchandani & Deeksha Chopra
Delhi Zoo will soon be bidding farewell to its three elephants. In fact, elephants will no longer be seen in any zoo or circus in the country after the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issued a notice on Monday to the effect that all of these animals in zoos, numbering about 140, should be sent to national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as soon as possible.
2009-10-30 - New Delhi, India. New Delhi
Concerned over the increasing incidents of elephant-human conflicts, the Centre will hold a high-level meeting with jumbo-range states here next week to find ways to improve their habitat. "Almost all states are grappling with increasing jumbo-human conflicts due to habitat degradation resulting in disappearance of corridors," A N Prasad, Director of Project Elephant, said.
2009-09-15 - New Delhi, India.
Herds of wild elephants straying from shrinking habitats in Orissa and Jharkhand have killed at least 30 people in Chhattisgarh so far this year. "This year at least 30 persons have been trampled by jumbos who come from Orissa and Jharkhand where their habitat has shrunk," N K Bhagat, Chattisgarh chief wildlife warden said.
2009-09-05 - New Delhi, India.
The increasing number of developmental projects coming up near jungles is taking a toll on the Indian elephant. Over 45% of elephant deaths in the past decade were caused by electrocution, experts say. Senior officers of Project Elephant said this has been the trend for the past many years and that they are "concerned" as they can't stop the projects for the sake of elephants.
2009-02-07 - New Delhi, India. Dhananjay Mahapatra
The National Highways Authority of India says it will build the world’s first flyover corridors for elephants over the highway and railway line that cut through Rajaji National Park to link major pilgrim towns of Hardwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Detailing the elevated elephant corridor project on Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan said it would solve the technically insurmountable pr...
2009-01-22 - New Delhi, India. Harish Bhat
Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, received a tiger cub as his birthday gift. Before you conclude that this is the wildest gift you've heard of, listen to my small story. My uncle, who lives in Kerala, once received an elephant as a gift. An elderly priest gifted it to him. It was a noble female elephant. My uncle named her Preethikutty and tethered her to a coconut palm in his backyard. There she rested a couple of days.
2009-01-17 - New Delhi, India.
For almost six decades Indian elephants in elaborate headdresses have been part of the annual Republic Day parade through Delhi. This year, however, the bejewelled elephants that traditionally carry the winners of children’s bravery awards will be absent from the parade for the first time since it began in 1950. Because of concerns about safety and animal rights the 20 children in the parade will now ride in military vehicles. The Defence Ministry said that it had taken the step partly because...
2008-12-08 - New Delhi, India. Sankar Ray
India’s elephants, as much as tigers the country’s symbol, are dying in ever-greater numbers as industrialization, deforestation, the pressure of human settlement and shrinking food resources cut into their numbers. Although the world's concern has risen over the fate of India's tigers, the descending numbers of India's elephants have not caused alarm. They are not listed as endangered species. The Federal Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the population of wild elephants at 26,4...
2008-12-03 - New Delhi, India.
At least 10 tigers and 57 elephants have been poached in India during last three years, the environment and forests ministry said Wednesday but said the government was doing its best to protect wildlife. While poachers in Rajasthan killed four tigers, two tigers each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kerala fell victims to wildlife criminals, according to a ministry report. Of the 57 jumbos killed, 22 were poached in Orissa alone. While eight elephants were killed each in Karnataka, Assam and Ke...
2008-10-26 - New Delhi, India. Neha Sinha
In a first-of-its-kind move, Project Elephant has released funds for setting up rescue and rehabilitation centres across the country to accommodate ill or ageing working elephants. There are an estimated 3,500-3,600 privately-owned captive elephants in the country and most of them are made to work. Approximately Rs 90 lakh has been released for a 400-acre elephant rescue centre to be run in Haryana, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forests said. Funds have also been released for el...
2008-09-08 - New Delhi, India. Pressrelease, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India
Carving of ivory is a traditional cottage industry in South India. the spurt in prices of ivory has been mainly responsible for killing of elephants in India. It is alleged that poachers do not hesitate to shoot even young elephants down to 5 years of age, which carry tusks of about 2.5 kg. a piece only. This type of systematic and sustained poaching of tuskers appeared to affect even the genetic potential and sex ration of the species.
2008-07-25 - New Delhi, India. Anand Sankar
It is a lonely and forlorn trudge for Bhola, Gangaram, Gulabu and their comrades —Delhi’s captive elephants — as they daily haul themselves from under the ITO Bridge at dawn, on the banks of the Yamuna cesspool. They plod through a city that does not bat an eyelid for them, to carry a groom at his wedding, or offer joyrides to tourists at a star hotel, all for Rs 2,000. Their day begins before the bedlam of the city’s roads and ends well after it, thanks to the traffic police. And the ma...
2008-06-21 - New Delhi, India. Christian Cotroneo
As India reshapes its landscape on the way to becoming an industrial and urban giant, conservationists are warning of an increase in deadly clashes between humans and elephants. While the government claims the elephant population has enjoyed a modest increase in recent years, development is robbing the herds of their natural habitat. "I think that human-animal conflict, generally, is going to be the biggest challenge of the next 10 years," said Belinda Wright, the founder the Wildlife Protection...
2008-06-12 - New Delhi, India. Rahul Bedi
India’s captive elephants will soon be able to live out their twilight years at a retirement home in the southern state of Kerala where there will be an abundance of good food, the company of other tuskers and professional veterinary care. When it opens, possibly in the next few months, the facility at Kottoor, 70km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram, will be the first in India to cater to ageing pachyderms. “We have already set up five enclosures at the facility,” said VS Varghe...
2008-04-23 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant rampaged through a Hindu temple in southern India on Wednesday, killing three people, including one of its handlers, police said. Television footage showed the adult male elephant charging through the temple compound. It knocked down a thatched awning, tried to batter its way through a steel gate and finally trampled a man, kicking the limp body several yards through the air. The elephant was being used during a ceremony for a regional festival in the southern Thrissur district when ...
2008-03-30 - New Delhi, United States. YOJNA GUSAI
Scientists have discovered an unusual elephant repellent, which they claim can save hundreds of acres of paddy farms from the invasion of pachyderms. ARC-11511 will keep away elephant herds from attacking rice plantations in the country. After everything failed to bring down incidents of elephants marauding rice plantations, especially in the north-eastern parts of the country, scientists have come out with just the right thing to keep the pachyderm away from appetite-soaring rice fields. ARC 11...
2008-03-25 - New Delhi , India.
The elephants are ravenous eaters of bananas and rice, and raid the fields, devastating everything. The farmers hunt them or poison them, to defend their meagre profits. Experts: better living and working opportunities must be given to the farmers. Elephants are at risk of disappearing from entire countries in Asia, because of ruthless hunting by farmers who are defending their fields. All over, rapid deforestation and the expansion of planting has increased the age-old conflict between elephan...
2008-03-18 - New Delhi , India.
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India. Mudassir Rizwan
Two people have been arrested here for trying to sell 2.5 kg of ivory worth Rs.250,000, the police said Thursday. Trade in ivory is banned in India. Aishwarya Vardhan, a 25-year-old graduate of the Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, and Raju Kanwar, a 24-year-old from Bihar, were arrested Wednesday from Shanti Path area in New Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) A.S. Cheema said Vardhan was earlier employed with an NGO and was now working with an import-export firm as an ex...
2008-02-28 - New Delhi, India.
Environmentalists and wildlife activists have pressed the panic button in the elephant corridor connecting Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the Asian tusker is under siege. According to an estimate by the NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), more than 20 elephants have died between January 2007 and January 2008 in southern India as a result of man-animal conflict.
2008-02-18 - New Delhi, India. Rajesh Sinha
In an unheard of incident, a wild elephant killed and devoured a man who came in the way of the herd in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. Elephants are herbivores. Though they’ve been known to go on the rampage, trampling or battering humans to death or destroying hutments and crops, there are no records of a pachyderm feeding on a human being. Confirming the incident which took place nearly a month ago, principal chief conservator of forests of Meghalaya VK Nautiyal, who was in New Delhi for a co...
2008-02-15 - New Delhi, India.
After the grim news on the tiger this week, here is something positive. The Indian population of elephants in the wild has jumped by more than a thousand. As per the latest 2007 survey, it stands at between 18,663 and 18,713. This is excluding figures from the N-E states for which the numbers are yet to be compiled. Last survey conducted in 2002 had pitched the figure for the country, excluding the population east of Chicken Neck at 17,170. The total population of elephants was 26,413. The bigge...
2008-01-22 - New Delhi, India.
Jungle law prevailed inside Delhi zoo on Monday as a mob of around 25-30 people - claiming to be the owners of elephants brought in for the Republic Day parade - attacked the zoo staff, including its director, D N Singh. According to sources, the elephant-keepers were waiting to hit back at the zoo authorities since last year, as they had complained against the mahouts for having misused the animals. Every year, elephants are brought in by the Delhi government from private owners for the R-Day p...
2007-12-06 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
The 80-year-old elephant, Arundhati, who succumbed to her injuries at Rajaji National Park in Dehradun in October due to multiple fractures in her right leg wouldn’t have undergone such an agonising end if she had been given the right pain killing drugs at that time. The incident has forced officials to formulate a policy on ‘problematic elephants’.
2007-11-27 - New Delhi, India.
PARIS HILTON has denied claims that she’s been helping drunk elephants sober up. In the last few months there have been a number of cases in Northwest India where wild elephants have caused themselves harm after becoming inebriated by drinking homemade rice beer. It was reported that socialite Hilton had spoken up after hearing about six deaths in the elephant community which occured after they drank the potent brew. Conservationists applauded Hilton’s interference in the matter, hoping her ...
2007-10-10 - New Delhi, India.
Seven captive elephants in the Delhi have been micro-chipped by an NGO as part of efforts to regulate the trafficking and exploitation of the animals. By micro-chipping the elephants, we can monitor and control the illegal trade and trafficking of captive elephants. Elephant traders and owners resort to capturing elephant calves from the wild and separate them from their herds. said Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of the NGO Wildlife SOS.
2007-08-16 - New Delhi, India.
Wildlife groups have created individual photo identification cards for Asian elephants in southern India in a bid to help track the effects of poaching on wild elephant populations, conservationists said Thursday. By being able to specifically identify animals, researches get a better idea of elephant numbers and movements in an area. It can also help law enforcement in the event that an elephant carcass is discovered, said a statement from the New-York based Wildlife Conservation Society, which...
2007-08-12 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
Fortunes of mahouts all over the country may soon change if Project Elephant officials’ proposal of shifting elephants along with their mahouts to wildlife sanctuaries and parks across the country is accepted by the ministry of environment and forests. Project Elephant officials are brainstorming over the idea and will soon send an official proposal to the ministry. The director, Project Elephant, Mr AN Prasad said: Yes, we are contemplating a proposal to shift elephants and mahouts to wildlif...
2007-07-14 - New Delhi, India. Danish Shafi
The little, off-white elephant lines up behind another of his herd on Zameer Baig’s table. Zameer has done a good job of the bone carving but all his father Nazeer does is give him a dejected nod of approval. The father-son duo belong to a vanishing community of ivory artisans. “We are still called that but we don’t work on ivory anymore. We now carve on animal bones, that of camels and anything else that we manage to source,” said Nazeer.
2007-07-13 - New Delhi, India. Mausam Sharma
A lower court in Delhi may soon have to arrange for a much larger witness box or conduct its proceedings in the parking lot. The case relates to a dispute over ownership. The elephants’ microchip numbers, inserted in the skin behind the ears, did not match the numbers mentioned in the ownership certificate. “Every elephant is marked and a record is maintained by inserting a microchip so that its identity can be verified. When we checked the numbers in the microchips, they did not matc...
2007-07-06 - New Delhi, India.
The results of the five-yearly elephant census are pouring in and, unlike the tiger census results, project elephant officials are all smiles as the animal population is on the rise. Mr AN Prasad, inspector general of forests and director, project elephant, ministry of environments and forests, said, The elephant population has always been increasing but, in recent years, it has shown an amazing upward trend.
2007-05-28 - New Delhi, India.
A wild elephant in India's eastern state of Orissa has been waylaying motorists who complain that the animal refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give it food, a media report said Monday. Witnesses told the Hindustan Times daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway in the northern Keonjhar district, forcing motorists to roll down windows and get out of their vehicles.
2007-04-30 - New Delhi, United States.
After tigers and lions, it's the turn of elephants now. In the last three years at least 244 elephants were killed in the country, with around half of them falling to poachers. In 2003-04, poachers killed 53 elephants, they killed 25 the following year and 39 in 2005-06. Similarly, 52 jumbos were electrocuted in 2003-04, 54 in 2004-05 and 12 in 2005-06. Man-elephant conflict claimed seven elephants in the last three years and two were killed due to mining related activities in 2005-06. Orissa to...
2007-04-30 - New Delhi, India.
The Centre is planning to allow the sale of domesticated live elephants, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Following requests by Assam, Kerala, Bihar and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government is considering making necessary amendments to the Widelife (Protection) Act, 1972, to relax the prohibition on the sale of domesticated live elephants, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply.
2007-04-10 - New Delhi, India. KUMARAN SATHASIVAM
The thorough research and compilation of data that has gone into the book makes it a valuable source of reference for all professionals involved in the study and upkeep of elephants. It has a lot of information on the fascinating animal for the general reader as well, though the writing style may slow down the reading. Foundation Books Pvt. Ltd., Cambridge House, 438/4, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002.
2007-03-29 - New Delhi, India. Aman Sharma
It is double windfall for elephant-owners in the Capital. With Bahaujan Samaj Party (BSP) fighting the Delhi MCD elections and the Assembly elections in UP, slated to start in another 10 days, BSP candidates have made a beeline for hiring elephants, their party symbol, as the crowd-puller during campaign. Elephant owners say they are booked for the entire next month and the charges for letting out elephants for election purpose has risen to as much as Rs 10,000 per day.
2007-03-27 - NEW DELHI, India.
Assam and Kerala, besides other states, have asked the Centre to help them take care of a jumbo-sized problem. They want the Union ministry of environment and forests to legalise and simplify rules for the sale of almost 3,500 captive elephants in the country. This would bring above board the illegal trade of elephants, which is taking a toll on domestic elephants as well as their owners. At present the transfer of elephants is governed by a complicated and cumbersome set of rules that has pushe...
2007-03-25 - New Delhi, India. Sushmita Choudhury
Pachyderm lover-hunter-conservationist Dinesh Choudhury's life comes a full circle. A hunter who is a staunch conservationist. Meet Dinesh Choudhury, elephant hunter. Yes, you read right. Choudhury is exactly that. But before you start calling up animal rights activists, let’s make it clear that this man is perfectly legal. He is actually a licensed professional hunter, one of the last few ones in the country. He is the man the government turns to when a rogue elephant has to be stopped.
2007-03-08 - New Delhi, India. Tenzing Lamsang
An 11-year-old elephant, rescued last year from Kaithal in Haryana, died at the Delhi Zoo today a few hours after doctors had decided to put down the animal. The elephant was suffering from spastic paralysis on his forelegs and fluid in his lower jaws had caused swelling, said Dr S. Bahadur, retired NDMC vet. The Zoo decided in the afternoon to euthanise the elephant but by 4.30 pm the elephant expired.
2007-02-23 - New Delhi, India.
We've all heard of orphanages for children, but one for elephants is rather hard to believe. The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has set up a first-of-its-kind orphanage centre for elephants inside the Manas National Park in Assam. The Assam Elephant Orphanage Centre, which is to be inaugurated on Saturday, was established in wake of the increasing number of animals, particularly elephants, becoming orphan in the state.
2007-02-22 - New Delhi, India.
In the first-ever recorded case in India, six hand-reared elephants will be rehabilitated in the wild on Friday, in a bid to check the plummeting numbers of the animal in the North-East. The elephants, which have been rescued from various parts of Assam and reared at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation in Kaziranga National Park, will be tranquillised and taken on a 450 km overnight drive to Manas National Park.
2007-01-05 - New Delhi, India.
Members of Parliament from Assam have sought the relaxation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, urging Delhi to allow elephant capture. The appeal was issued to-day in a memorandum from 20 MPs of the Northeast to minister of state for environment and forests Namo N. Meena. The memo urged the ministry to “specifically” allow Assam to capture wild elephants for domesticating th-em. The Indian elephant has been listed in Schedule I (the most protected species) since 1977
2006-12-13 - New Delhi, India.
A Sri Lankan firm which transforms elephant dung into beautiful, eco-friendly paper, has won a major global competition which rewards businesses and projects that put something back into their communities. ‘Maximus’, based in Kegalle at the foothills of Sri Lanka’s central mountainous region, beat more than 800 other projects from 120 countries to win World Challenge 2006 and a US$20,000 grant from Shell.
2006-12-12 - New Delhi, India.
Funds for conservation and checking poaching of tigers and several other wild animals have been increased this year, whereas for elephants the allocation has been slashed, according to Union Environment and Forests Ministry. The protection of pachyderms under project elephant received a jolt as its funding decreased from Rs 13.34 crore last year to Rs 11.51 crore this year, down by 13.7 per cent. Significantly, demands for funds from Assam for the project elephant has dropped from Rs 1.30 crore ...
2006-11-29 - New Delhi, India. Chetan Chauhan
Of the 40 elephants deaths reported in Orissa since April this year, half have reportedly been killed by poachers. Usage of new tools indicates the involvement of international ivory smuggling rings. In the last ten days alone, six elephant deaths have been reported, of which four are believed to be result of poaching. Professor Raman Sukumar of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said it appears an international smuggling ring has become active in Orissa.
2006-11-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Rajesh Sinha
Nearly 300 persons are killed every year by wild elephants in India. The figure was as low as 200 till year 1999-2000 - an indicator of the growing human-elephant conflict. In India, elephant habitats have fragmented into 88 patches in the country, and this is increasing under pressure of human population. With their habitats under pressure, elephant herds have moved into areas they have not been seen in for decades.
2006-11-17 - NEW DELHI, India.
Animal rights activists in India have called on the eve of a controversial tournament for the elite, centuries-old sport of elephant polo to be banned due to what they say is the pain and suffering it causes the animals. Privileged royals and the rich have been playing the game for hundreds of years in the desert state of Rajasthan, dotted with the fading palaces of once powerful royals, and still stage regular events.
2006-11-17 - NEW DELHI, United States. Nita Bhalla
This weekend, the Elephant Polo Cup, sponsored by Swiss jeweller Cartier and co-organised by the brother-in-law of Prince Charles, Mark Shand, will be held in Jaipur, Rajasthan's capital. Animal rights activists in India have called on the eve of a controversial tournament for the elite, centuries-old sport of elephant polo to be banned due to what they say is the pain and suffering it causes the animals. Privileged royals and the rich have been playing the game for hundreds of years in the dese...
2006-11-15 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Mark Shand, the elephant conservationist and brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, is facing protests from eminent animal welfare experts over plans to stage an elephant polo match in the Indian city of Jaipur this weekend. Mr Shand, author of the best-selling Travels on my Elephant, said he organised the match, sponsored by the jewellers, Cartier, to give dignity back to the elephant. A host of international celebrities will take part in the match before being encouraged to put pressure on govern...
2006-11-14 - New Delhi, India. Desmond Boylan
An elephant loaded with tree branches walks down a busy road in New Delhi November 14, 2006. Yahoo! News Photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (INDIA)
2006-10-27 - New Delhi, India. Zafri Mudasser Nofil
A doorbell can be an effective tool to check marauding elephants from entering into human territory, according to a wildlife expert who has successfully implemented the method in Assam. "Every time an elephant trips on the fence while trying to cross, the bell rings. This gives the people enough time to thwart the animal," Goswami told IANS. "The technique involves a cell, switch and a bell connected to a high fence built with nylon strings," said Shimanta Goswami, a member of the Emergency Reli...
2006-08-29 - New Delhi, India.
An elephant at Kamla Nehru Zoo, which went berserk this morning and threw off its Mahout injuring him severely, broke open the shed where he was locked at about 7.30 pm and started wandering around its open paddock, trumpeting loudly. The elephant, Moti, had to be given three tranquiliser shots to calm him down, but he seemed unaffected and went about eating grass.
2006-05-29 - New Delhi, India.
The Wildlife SOS Elephant Welfare Project in India has just launched a new street elephant rescue programme. Illegally caught captive elephants in India are estimated to number more than 5000. Delhi is one of the most populated and polluted cities in the world, where 40 of these elephants are subjected to terrible living and "working" conditions.
2006-01-04 - NEW DELHI, India.
For an elephant, south India is the place to be. If it can sidestep poachers, there are good chunks of habitat and even better, 65% of the corridors which link these habitats and allow herds to move freely in protected areas or reserve forests. But in other parts of the country, its nomadic cousin is in trouble. India now has less than 30,000 elephants, most of them running out of space to feed and live in far away from the spotlight focused firmly on the tiger.
2005-12-21 - New Delhi, India. Gopal Sathe
Elephants at the Delhi Zoo are restless these days because of overcrowding, say zoo authorities. Zoo veterinarian Dr M Paneerselvam said the elephant enclosure has been facing a space crunch in the last two months as four elephants rescued from illegal ownership by the Wildlife Department have been transferred here.
2005-10-22 - New Delhi, India.
Two young elephants, being kept illegally here for use in religious festivals and weddings, have been seized and shifted to Delhi zoo. Acting on information from the Wildlife protection Society of India (WPSI), the Department of Wildlife Preservation (Government of India) and the Delhi Wildlife Department jointly raided two elephant owners in Yamuna Pushta area.
2005-09-19 - New Delhi, India.
Threat to pachyderm comes not only from poaching for ivory but also from rapid loss of its habitat. Saving the Asian Elephant - Hemendra Kothari, David Ferguson and Bittu Sahgal. Sanctuary Magazine together with DSP Merrill Lynch hosted an evening with American wildlife biologist David Ferguson to discuss the future of the Asian elephant in the country that worships the elephant God.
2005-06-08 - New Delhi, India. Peter Foster
Conservationists are using military-style tactics to protect one of the world's largest Asian elephant populations. An early warning system which uses trip wires, smoke bombs and ropes smeared in a pungent form of chilli that can make even an elephant's eyes water, aims to deter the animals from entering villages in search of easy food. The project in Assam, north-east India, is partly funded by Chester Zoo.
2005-05-07 - New Delhi, India.
The estimated population of elephants in the country has shown an increase from 25,877 in 1997 to 26,413 in 2002 when the last census was carried out. Elephants have been included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 which prohibits their hunting and also trade in ivory. Export of ivory from the country is also banned. India is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international trade in ivory an...
2005-02-02 - New Delhi, India. India News
How many times have you marvelled at a caparisoned Indian elephant without sparing a thought for its plight amid alien sights and sounds, far from its home in the wilderness? Now animal lover P. Balan has made a hard-hitting documentary highlighting the cruelty and hypocrisy towards the pachyderms, which are much loved even as they are subjected to unnerving human rituals. Balan, a programme executive at the All India Radio, Thrissur, in his Malayalam film "The 18t...
2005-01-09 - New Delhi, India. Prerna Singh Bindra
Much before first light, tourists at Khao Lak resort in Thailand were woken up by wails. When they tumbled out in the bitter cold dawn of December 26, they were confronted by the strange sight of agitated elephants, trumpeting. Crying, insist the mahouts, who had never seen the pachyderms behave such. The elephants ran, hurrying, for higher ground and confused, the people followed.
2004-11-19 - New Delhi, India. The Hindu
The Supreme Court today directed the Project Elephant Director to take note of the death of 77 pachyderms in the Nagerhole area of Karnataka between April and October this year and take remedial measures to prevent its recurrence.
2004-10-20 - NEW DELHI, India. Ranjit Devraj
India's most notorious bandit and king elephant poacher, Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, might be history after he was shot dead by police on Monday. But conservationists still remain sceptical on whether the illegal ivory trade can be stemmed in the country, while a leading human rights group has called for an inquiry into his killing.
2004-10-13 - New Delhi, India. Sapa-DPA
The only male elephant in Armenia's zoo will get an Indian female companion this week, a news report said on Wednesday. Armenian officials had asked the Indian government for a female pachyderm in 1999, for its sole male elephant originally from Moscow. Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee promised them an elephant during a visit to Armenia last year.
2004-01-23 - New Delhi, India. Prakriti Prasad
The Delhi Zoo is extending its hospitality to the elephants that carry bravery award winners in the Republic Day parade. Visitors to the zoo are greeted by these elephants, brought from all over Delhi and domesticated by their private owners, right at the entrance, where they are putting up in the scooter parking lot. Every morning, they are taken to Rajpath for their training.
2024-04-26 - Blackpool, United Kingdom.
The latest round of pregnancy tests at Blackpool Zoo has revealed that two of its elephants are expecting babies. Mother and daughter Noorjahan and Esha are both pregnant and due to give birth in late...
2024-04-02 - Sen Monorom, Cambodia.
There was sad news from Mondulkiri Province, with the death of 2 year old elephant “Chi Pich” being announced. Sources from the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment Organization (ELIE) said ...
2024-03-26 - Kochi, India.
Popular tusker Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan, 55, 55, died at Mangalamkunnu in Palakkad on Monday. The elephant owned by M A Haridasan had been under treatment for the past few months.
2024-03-23 - Kegalle, Sri Lanka.
The 76th elephant calf was born at the Rambukkana Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on March 20.This baby elephant was born to 32-year-old she-elephant Shanthi and 19-year-old Pandu at the Pinnawala Elepha...
2024-03-23 - Pretoria, South Africa.
In the ongoing efforts to curb poaching and snaring of animals within the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders, South African National Parks (SANParks) is working to create more partnerships with neighbour...
2024-03-15 - , United States.
After weeks of voting and thousands of submissions, the Toledo Zoo has officially chosen the name of their precious baby elephant and we're personally thrilled about the news! Ladies and gentleman, Ki...
2024-03-09 - Tucson, United States.
A baby elephant was born at Reid Park Zoo. The zoo said Semba, the facility’s African elephant matriarch, gave birth to a 265-pound calf around 3:31 a.m. Friday, March 8. Reid Park Zoo said the calf...
2024-03-04 - Copenhagen, Denmark.
A female baby elephant in Copenhagen Zoo has been named Chin after the Tha Chin river in central Thailand. The elephant was born last week in the Danish zoo. The zookeepers, who take care of the young...
2024-02-29 - Alappuzha, India.
Evoor Kannan, the elephant known for his murderous rage and with a history of killing two mahouts is in a bad mood these days. He had been gentle under the care of his former Mahout Sharath Parippally...
2024-02-20 - Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands.
African elephant Punda has become the mother of a healthy elephant calf after a 22-month pregnancy. This is the third calf born in the Safari Park Beekse Bergen k in four months. Never before have thr...
2024-02-15 - Pittsburgh, United States.
The zoo said Tsuni died Thursday after a sudden, brief battle with elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). Her EEHV was detected through routine blood testing on Feb. 8, even though she presente...
2024-02-15 - Seoul, South Korea.
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered fr...
2024-01-30 - Bangalore, India.
The Bannerghatta Biological Park is brimming with excitement as it welcomes a delightful new addition—a baby boy elephant calf. This adorable arrival brings the elephant count in the Bannerghatta zo...
2024-01-27 - Guruvayur, India.
Elephant Kannan, of the Guruvayur Devaswom Elephant Camp, a nine-time winner of the festival-related elephant race, has passed away. His demise was around 5:30 pm on Saturday. The tusker's age at the ...
2024-01-27 - Koh Nhek, Cambodia.
Villagers found a baby elephant dead in Koh Nhek district, Mondulkiri province in the middle of the forest on January 26, 2024, suspected of being shot. Mondulkiri Provincial department of environm...
2024-01-13 - Beijing, China.
A recent study published in the journal eLife has uncovered new findings on the development of dextrous trunks by indigenous elephants. According to Dr. Shi-Qi Wang, a senior author of the research, t...
2024-01-13 - Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
The Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan District, Riau Province, again lost one of its Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) after a poacher allegedly killed it for its tusks. The 46-year...
2024-01-11 - New York, United States.
In a narrow but sprawling curatorial space at the uptown museum, The Secret World of Elephants, now opened, tells the story of elephant species and their relatives through life-size models, videos, gr...
2024-01-11 - Mysore, India.
In response to the escalating threat posed by leopards, elephants and other wild animals in the Mysuru region, specialised task forces have been established to address the situation. A dedicated Leopa...
2024-01-04 - Los Angeles, United States.
The Los Angeles Zoo is grieving the death of 53-year-old Asian elephant Shaunzi. Zoo staff observed that Shaunzi was unable to stand up in her exhibit at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, according t...
