World Elephant Day

• The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12 to

create awareness of urgent plight of African and Asian elephants.
• The first International Elephant Day was held on August 12, 2012.
• Since then observed annually and is dedicated to
preservation and protection of the world’s Elephants.
• This day highlights need for better protection for wild
elephants, improving enforcement policies to prevent the
illegal poaching and trade of ivory, conserving elephant habitats,
better treatment for captive elephants etc.
• This day is now supported annually by more than 65 wildlife
organizations and many individuals around the world.

Elephants of The World

• There are numerous types of elephants found in Africa and Asia, with three distinct species.
o African Bush Elephant
o African Forest Elephant
o Asian Elephant – 3 Subspecies - Indian Elephant, Sri Lankan Elephants, and Sumatran Elephants. Some
studies also consider the Bornean Elephant as a fourth distinct sub-species.
• The African Bush Elephant (a.k.a. African Savanna Elephant) is the largest of them all: It’s actually the largest
living terrestrial animal on the planet.
• They are considered to be keystone species, due to their impact on their environments, and can live up to 70
years in the wild.
• They communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over
long distances.
• Elephants have highly developed brains, not to mention the largest in the entire animal kingdom. Elephant
intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans and studies have shown that they possess a
variety of complex emotions and feelings, including deep compassion and surprising self-awareness.
• Elephants have a fission–fusion society, in which multiple family groups come together to socialise.
• Elephants are instinctively afraid of bees. Wildlife conservationists have used this natural fear to the elephants’
advantage by placing beehives near farms in order to prevent elephants from foraging in those areas. This
approach seems to be helping to minimize incidents of human-elephant conflict.
Conservation Status
African Elephant

Asian Elephant
(includes Indian Elephant)

Sumatran
Elephant

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

Schedule - I
• This Schedule covers endangered species, that need rigorous protection and therefore, the
harshest penalties for violation of the law are for species under this Schedule.
• Species under this Schedule are prohibited to be hunted throughout India, except under threat
to human life.
• Absolute protection is accorded to species in this list.
• Trade of these animals is prohibited.

Appendix - I

• Appendix I lists species that are the most

endangered among CITES-listed animals and
plants.
• They are threatened with extinction and CITES
prohibits international trade in specimens of
these species except when the purpose of the
import is not commercial (Article III), for
instance for scientific research.
• In these exceptional cases, trade may take place
provided it is authorized by the granting of both
an import permit and an export permit (or re-
export certificate).

Fact:
Elephants can run up to a maximum speed of 40
km/hr. Yet even when they are moving at their
fastest, they still keep at least one foot on the
ground at all times.
Elephants
Give more
To Nature
than they
take .. !
 The Indian Elephant
Cultural Significance
• National Heritage Animal (Status
conferred on 2011)
• Associated with Lord Ganesha of
Elephas •
Hinduism.
Hold special significance in Buddhism. In

Maximus Buddhist iconography, the elephant is

associated with Queen Māyā of Sakya,
the mother of Gautama Buddha.
Indicus • A very important component of Chess as
they are traditionally used in wars as a
distinct group.

Thrissur Pooram is an annual Hindu festival held in Kerala. It is

celebrated on the day when the star sign “Pooram” occurs in the Malayalam
month of “medam (April-May)”.
The Pooram consists of ten temples in and around Thrissur and is
considered to be a ceremony where these deities come together to pay
obeisance to Lord Shiva at the Vadakkunnathan Temple.
Thrissur Pooram is the largest and most famous of all poorams, and was
the brainchild of Raja Rama Varma, famously known as Sakthan Thampuran, the
Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805).

In Art Forms:

Lion Capital – Sarnath Pillar of Ashoka

Descent of Ganges Elephant Sculpture Rock-cut Elephant

(Mamallapuram) (Elephanta caves) (Dhauli)
Threats
Human Animal
Habitat loss conflicts

Electrocution
by fences

Capture of wild
elephants

Genetic
Threats threats

Diseases

Illegal trade of ivory

The Ivory Trade

10,000s
Elephants poached each year
mostly in Central Africa

300
Elephants killed in Cameroon in
few weeks of time

1
Part of their body that poachers
are after: THE IVORY
Threats – Indian Scenario
Conservation Efforts - Global

Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE)

• The MIKE Programme was established by the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• The objective of the MIKE is to identify trends in elephant mortalities by analysing data
on elephant carcasses.
• There are currently 28 sites participating in the MIKE programme in Asia, distributed
across 13 countries, in which India has 10 sites.
• In India, Project Elephant has been formally implementing MIKE.

Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG)

• The IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) is a global network of specialists (both
scientists and non-scientists) concerned with the study, monitoring, management, and
conservation of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus).
• Aim: To promote the long-term conservation of Asia’s elephants and, where possible, the
recovery of their populations to viable levels.
• AsESG is an integral part of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• It shall provide the best available scientifically grounded evidence to the abundance,
distribution, and demographic status of Asian elephant populations in all 13 range states.
• Gajah is the bi-annual journal of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG).

Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS)

• ETIS is a comprehensive information system to track illegal trade in ivory and other
elephant products.
• It is a system under MIKE, evolved at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties
(CoP10) of CITES.
• The central component of ETIS is a database on seizures of elephant specimens that have
occurred anywhere in the world since 1989.
• ETIS has been managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of the CITES Parties and is currently housed
at the TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa office in Harare, Zimbabwe.
 Conservation Efforts - India
Project Elephant
• Project Elephant was launched in 1992 to provide financial and technical support of wildlife management
efforts by states for wild Asian Elephants.
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• The project aims to ensure the long-term survival to the populations of elephants in their natural habitats by
protecting the elephants, their habitats and migration corridors.
• Objectives
o To ensure the Welfare of domesticated elephants
o Protection of elephants, their habitats and elephant corridors.
o Mitigation and prevention of human-elephant conflict.

GAJ YATRA Campaign

• ‘Gaj Yatra’, a nationwide campaign to protect elephants, was launched on the occasion of World Elephant
Day in 2017.
• The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states. The elephant is part of India’s animal heritage
and the Government celebrates this day to spread awareness about the conservation of the species.
• The 15 months campaign will be led by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
• The campaign aims to create awareness about elephant corridors to encourage free movement in their
habitat.

Haathi Mere Saathi

• Haathi Mere Saathi is a campaign launched by the Ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) in partnership
with the Wildlife trust of India (WTI).
• The campaign was launched at the “Elephant- 8”
Ministerial meeting held in Delhi in 2011.
• The E-8 countries comprise of India, Botswana, the
Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Srilanka, Tanzania,
and Thailand.
• This public initiative was aimed at increasing awareness
among people and developing friendship,
companionship between people and elephants.

Other Initiatives:
• Establishment of Elephant reserves:
o There are around 32 elephant Reserves in India.
o The very first elephant reserve or elephant sanctuary
was the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve of Jharkhand.4

• The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), had come out with a

publication on the Right of passage in 101 elephant corridors of
the country in 2017, stressed on the need for greater
surveillance and protection of elephant corridors.
 “
The Question is,
are we happy to
suppose that our
grandchildren
may never be able
to see an
Elephant except
David Attenborough
in a picture book?