Jharkhand's jumbo population drops to 217 from 678 experts blame man-elephant conflicts

Ranchi, Oct 15 (PTI) Jharkhand’s wild elephant population has recorded a drastic decline to 217, far below the 2017 figure of 678, according to the country’s first-ever DNA-based census of the species.
    Wildlife experts have termed it alarming and blamed rising man-elephant conflicts, encroachment of elephant movement corridors and habitat loss for the decline.
    The All-India Synchronous Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) 2025 has put Jharkhand’s elephant population between 149 and 286, with an average of 217.
    The Union environment ministry released the report on Tuesday, nearly four years after the survey began in 2021.
    "Jharkhand is no longer a safe abode for elephants. We have destroyed their natural habitats through mining, road construction and other activities. Their corridors for movement have either been encroached upon or destroyed. With rampant destruction of forests, elephants are also facing shortage of food, particularly bamboo. They have no option but to move out of the state," former State Wildlife Board member D S Srivastava told PTI.
    He said, "Elephant is the state animal, but little initiative has been taken by the government for their protection."
    Jharkhand forests constitute 31.51 per cent of its total geographic area (25,118 sq km) and is a mineral and forest-rich state, bordered by West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar.
    Palamau Tiger Reserve and Kolhan division of Jharkhand, which has three districts — Seraikela-Kharswan, East and West Singhbhum — have been the major habitats for the jumbo population, a forest official said.
    Amidst habitat loss, elephants have been migrating into new areas such as Hazaribagh and Ranchi, posing challenges for conflict mitigation, the report added.
    This also led to severe human-elephant conflicts. Around 30 elephant mortalities were recorded, primarily due to diseases, electrocution, poisoning, poaching, and train accidents between 2004 and 2017, it said.
    At least five elephants were killed in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts in West Singhbhum district in recent years, a state forest official said.
    The conflicts in Jharkhand have also claimed as many as 474 human lives over a span of five years since the 2019-20 fiscal, according to data tabled by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in Parliament.
    Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) SR Natesh said they are studying the elephant estimation report.
    "The figure shown in the report is much lower than our estimation. Till 2017, direct sighting was also part of the method. We have to see if it was included in the estimation or not," Natesh told PTI.
    He said several initiatives were underway to restore elephant habitats.
    "We are developing grasslands and cultivating elephant food in forests. Corridors have been identified and improvement plans are in progress," he said.
    At the national level, the SAIEE 2025 estimated India’s elephant population between 18,255 and 26,645, with an average of 22,446.
    Scientists collected 21,056 dung samples from across elephant landscapes and used DNA fingerprinting to identify individual animals, similar to human genetic identification. The field survey covered nearly 6.7 lakh km of forest trails and over 3.1 lakh dung plots, the report stated.
    Karnataka continues to host the largest number of elephants at 6,013, followed by Assam (4,159), Tamil Nadu (3,136).
    Jharkhand's neighbours Odisha has 912 elephants, Chhattisgarh 451, West Bengal 707, and Bihar 13.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)