The Asian elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in the Asian continent. An Asian elephant can attain a height of 11 feet and weigh over six tonnes. Yet, it is classified as Endangered, according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
Adult elephants are herbivores, eating 150-200kg of food (grass, bark, roots, leaves, and some fruits) and drinking up to 200 litres of water every day. Through their natural processes of eating and excretion, they disperse seeds far and wide. This gives them the moniker of Nature’s Gardeners.
These ecological engineers have lost up to 90% of their habitat in some Indian states. Lantana, an invasive weed, has appropriated 40% of their habitats in southern India. Shrinking habitats and corridors bring elephants closer to human settlements, where both elephant and human lives are at risk. Over 100 elephants die in India every year due to anthropogenic causes like train accidents, electrocution, and poisoning. There is also the forever looming threat of poaching. Male elephants are targeted for their ivory tusks, and this distorts natural sex ratios of the species in the wild.
For over four decades, WWF-India has been at the forefront of Asian elephant conservation. Our comprehensive approach focusses on restoring elephant habitats and securing connectivity, monitoring populations, and reducing human-elephant conflict by empowering communities and institutions.
More than 224 villages have benefited from 300 kilometres of low-cost solar-powered fencing that keeps elephants away from crops and settlements. These fences are safe for elephants, unlike the illegal ones that can electrocute them.
WWF-India is setting up an Early Warning System (EWS) in select places in Tamil Nadu. This system activates an alarm on sensing a large body in the surrounding area and alerts the villagers of a possible elephant intrusion.
In collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and local communities, WWF-India has trained 100 Anti-Depredation Squads across 200 villages to drive away wild elephants from human settlements.
Bambusa bambos, is a thorny, thick and sturdy species of bamboo that acts as a natural fence which requires little financial capital and proves to be a life-saver for both humans and elephants. WWF-India has been conducting training on the bamboo plantation in the Sessa Tea Estate for garden representatives.
In collaboration with state education departments, WWF-India conducts its environment education programme, Ek Prithvi, in government schools that are located in regions with elephant-human conflict. The interventions under this programme include capacity building of educators and school heads to help them navigate this sensitive issue with students and reach communities through them. WWF-India has published multiple publications under the programme that includes the handbook 'Elephants-The Super Creatures'.
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