16.2. PROJECT ELEPHANT

♤ Project Elephant was launched in February, 1992 as centrally sponsored scheme to assist states having free ranging populations of wild elephants and to ensure long term survival of identified viable populations of elephants in their natural habitats.

♤ The Project is being mainly implemented in 13 States / UTs , viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Small support is also being given to Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

♤ States are being given financial as well as technical assistance in achieving the objectives of the Project. Help is also provided to other states with small populations of elephants for the purpose of census, training of field staff and mitigation of human-elephant conflict.

Do you know?

The hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, Rhino and most commonly, Asian and African elephants are poached for their ivory tusk.