Why is it in the news?

• The Environment Ministry has postponed the release of the elephant census report, titled “Status of Elephant in India 2022-23,” due to delays in the Northeast. Although the report for the rest of India is printed, its publication is now set for June 2025 at the earliest.

More about the news

• Data from the unreleased report indicates a significant decline in elephant populations, particularly in east-central and southern regions. Notable drops include Southern West Bengal (84%), Jharkhand (64%), Odisha (54%), and Kerala (51%).
• The report attributes these declines to factors such as “mushrooming developmental projects,” including unchecked mining and infrastructure development.
• Despite employing refined methodologies for the census, the Environment Ministry acknowledges that these numbers may not be directly comparable to previous counts conducted every five years since the 1990s.
• Critics, however, suggest that the new counting methods, particularly DNA profiling, cannot entirely explain the dramatic decreases seen in certain areas, as numbers in the northern landscape have remained stable.
• Traditionally, elephants were counted in India using the “total direct count” method until 2002, which involved a straightforward headcount of observed elephants. This method was deemed scientifically limited for large populations.
• In response, the “indirect dung count method” was introduced, where enumerators surveyed areas for elephant droppings to estimate population density based on defecation rates. The “sample block counts” method was also adapted to enhance detection rates by surveying smaller areas.
• On World Elephant Day in 2021, Environment Minister announced plans to harmonize population estimation methods for elephants and tigers. This new approach involves breaking down forest areas into blocks for comprehensive surveys, assessing factors like vegetation quality and human disturbance to determine the potential for tiger habitation.
• The recent Synchronous All India Elephant Estimation 2022-23 (SAIEE 2023) employed a genetic mark-recapture model, analyzing dung samples to identify individual elephants. Unlike tigers, elephants lack unique markings, making this method essential.
• However, experts express concern that the delay in releasing census results harms both scientific progress and governance. The five-year census cycle is overdue, and withholding available data could hinder effective policy-making.
• Additionally, there are worries that the North-East numbers will not offset the overall downward trend in populations, emphasizing the urgency for targeted interventions in regions facing specific threats, such as habitat loss and conflicts.
• The unreleased report suggests that Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have utilized a combination of block and dung count methods in their 2023 protocols, indicating potential scalability for future applications.

The 2017 census report highlighted the importance of continuity in population estimations to draw meaningful comparisons and assess species well-being in the wild.