In Assam, some tea estates have voluntarily begun clearing bushes to restore natural corridors that pass through them. While the government has been struggling to protect and secure elephant corridors across the country, WTI has already secured three such corridors, one each in Meghalaya, Kerala and Karnataka under its corridor securing project launched in 2001. This means the majority of the wild elephant population in India lives around human-dominated landscapes that have gradually turned hotbeds of conflict. While most tiger habitats fall within protected areas, only 22 per cent of elephant habitats has some kind of protection. “I am particularly pleased that Prince Charles, who so wanted to see an Asian elephant last time he was in India, was present on the momentous occasion when the fund-raising campaign was launched.”Īccording to estimates, 400 people and 50 elephants are killed in India every year due to conflict, which is increasing due to the rapidly shrinking habitat.
“Five leading conservation organisations, 100 key elephant corridors but one goal nothing pleases me more than the coming together of the global community in the fight for this endangered species,” said WTI’s executive director Vivek Menon. Securing the corridors would facilitate unhindered movement of elephants from one fragmented habitat to another, one of the key answers to mitigating conflict. The 100 selected corridors - India has 138 within various states, 28 more from state to state, and 17 international ones connecting to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal - have been documented by WTI in consultation with forest departments of the states.
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