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Context: A recent paper published by a conservationist said that the Asian elephant has lost most of its optimal habitat in the Nilgiri biosphere Reserve.

Details:

• The Indian elephant is one of three extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia.

Asian Elephant

• Asian Elephant is distributed throughout 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.
• It is primarily threatened by loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation and poaching.
• The South Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are home to nearly 44% of the elephants.
• Karnataka has the highest number of elephants: 6049
• The elephant has been accorded the highest possible protection under the Indian wildlife law through its listing under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Project Elephant

• Project Elephant (PE) was launched by the Government of India in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives:
  • To protect elephants, their habitat and corridors.
  • To address issues of man-animal conflict.
  • The welfare of captive elephants
  • Elephant census is conducted once in 5 years under the aegis of Project elephant. Methods employed: direct counting and dung decay formula.

Haathi Mere Saathi

• Campaign Haathi Mere Saathi came into existence by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India.
• The aim of this campaign is to increase public awareness and develop friendships between elephants and the local population. It is to conserve and protect elephants.

MIKE

• The Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program is an international collaboration that measures the levels, trends and causes of elephant mortality, thereby providing an information base to support international decision-making related to the conservation of elephants in Asia and Africa.
• The MIKE Programme was established by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)by Resolution 10.10 adopted at the tenth Conference of the Parties in 1997.
• There are currently 28 sites participating in the MIKE program in Asia, distributed across 13 countries: India has 10 sites.

Elephant Range	Elephant Reserve	State	Total Area
Eastern India (southwest Bengal – Jharkhand-Odisha)	1. Mayurjharna ER	West Bengal	414
	2. Singhbhum ER	Jharkhand	4530
	3. Mayurbhanj ER	Odisha	3214
	4. Mahanadi ER	Odisha	1038
	5. Sambalpur ER	Odisha	427
	6. Badalkhol-Tamorpingla	Chhattisgarh	1048.30
North Brahmaputra (Arunachal – Assam)	1. Kameng ER	Arunachal Pradesh	1892
	2. Sonitpur ER	Assam	1420
South Brahmaputra (Assam- Arunachal)	1. Dihing-Patkai ER	Assam	937
	2. South Arunachal ER	Arunachal Pradesh	1957.50
Kaziranga (Assam- Nagaland)	1. Kaziranga – Karbi Anglong ER	Assam	3270
	2.  Dhansiri-Lungding ER	Assam	2740
	3. Intanki ER	Nagaland	202
	4. Singphan ER	Nagaland	23.57
Eastern Dooars (Assam- W. Bengal)	1. Chirang-Ripu ER	Assam	2600
	2. Eastern Dooars ER	West Bengal	978
E. Himalayas (Meghalaya)	1. Garo Hills ER	Meghalaya	3,500
Nilgiri –Eastern Ghat (Karnataka- Kerala- Tamilnadu-Andhra)	1. Mysore ER	Karnataka	6724
	2. Dandeli ER	Karnataka
	3. Wayanad ER	Kerala	1200
	4. Nilgiri ER	Tamil Nadu	4663
	5. Rayala ER	Andhra Pradesh	766
South Nilgiri (Kerala- Tamilnadu)	1. Nilambur ER	Kerala	1419
	2. Coimbatore ER	Tamil Nadu	566
Western Ghat (Tamilnadu- Kerala)	1. Anamalai ER	Tamil Nadu	1457
	2. Anamudi ER	Kerala	3728
Periyar (Kerala- Tamilnadu)	1. Periyar	Kerala	3742
	2. Srivilliputtur ER	Tamil Nadu	1249
Northern India (Uttaranchal-U.P.)	1. Shivalik ER	Uttarakhand	5405
	2. Uttar Pradesh ER	Uttar Pradesh	744

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/endangered-asian-elephant-has-lost-most-of-its-optimal-habitat-in-nilgiri-reserve-study/article66343549.ece