Dehradun, 13 Aug 2007
After the decline in the tiger population, Uttarakhand has now reported a sharp drop of 10 per cent in the number of elephants, mainly tuskers, in the state.
The latest census report of 2005-07 has revealed that the number has come down to 1,346 from 1,510 recorded two years ago. The population of elephants stood at 1,582 in 2003 which clearly indicates that the situation has worsened during the past four years.
But the Uttarakhand Wildlife Department, which conducted the census, is not worried over the report and says there were hardly any incident of poaching.
“There is no cause for concern as of now. But we are very alert as far as elephants are concerned,” said S K Chandola, Chief Wildlife Warden of Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand has two national parks–Rajaji and Corbett- and six wildlife sanctuaries. The tiger population in the state has declined from 251 in 2001 to 241 in 2005 as per the last census.
The census report on elephants, presented to the state government, has said that Haridwar Forest Division is the worst affected area where nearly 100 elephants have gone missing.
Top forest officials fear that some of the elephants have met with accidents like electrocution while others could have migrated to neighbouring states Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
The report said nearly 45 elephants died due to various reasons including accidents out of which 28 were tuskers.
Nearly 119 elephants have also been reported missing in the state with wildlife officials saying they have no knowledge about their whereabouts.
Sixteen elephants died in Corbett National Park which had earlier reported a healthy sex ratio among the pachyderms.
Significantly, train accidents involving elephants have not been reported for the past five years following various measures taken by the railway authorities and the forest department.
News Source: http://www.hindu.com
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