All India Elephant and Tiger population estimation exercise
Context:
- All India Elephant and Tiger population estimation exercise to be done in convergence for the first time in 2022
- Estimation protocol for the same is adopted.
Asian Elephant
- It is distributed througout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east.
- The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia.
- Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population has declined by at least 50 percent over the last three elephant generations, which is about 60–75 years.
- Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India.
- It is primarily threatened by loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation and poaching.
- The Asian elephant is listed on CITES Appendix I.
- CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.
Royal Bengal Tiger:
- It forms a specific population of the Pantheratigristigris subspecies that is native to the Indian subcontinent.
- Threats: poaching, loss and fragmentation of habitat.
- IUCN Status:
- Protected under schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act.
1.png)
