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Number Of Elephants Increased In Tamil Nadu During Past Five Years
Number Of Elephants Increased In Tamil Nadu During Past Five Years (Photo/newindianexpress)
Highlights
- Over the past year that 130 elephants may have died in the state this year and that their population may have increased by 800 since the last census in 2017.
- The major key causes for the deaths of wild elephant calves in the state since 1991 could be due to natural disasters such as drought and a shortage of water
Experts from the Forest College and Research Institute in Mettupalayam notified a committee set up to investigate the reasons for the deaths of wild elephants, particularly young ones, in Tamil Nadu over the past year that 130 elephants may have died in the state this year and that their population may have increased by 800 since the last census in 2017.
As per sources from the Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam's Department of Wildlife Biology, the major key causes for the deaths of wild elephant calves in the state since 1991 could be due to natural disasters such as drought and a shortage of water in the forests throughout the summer.
Dr B Ramakrishnan, assistant professor, Department of wildlife Biology, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam expressed that over the last 28 years, his team has acquired 1,544 post-mortem examination reports of wild elephants that have perished (till 2019).
At least 940 deaths have been documented in the Nilgiris Elephant Reserve Forest Area, which includes Gudalur, MTR, Coimbatore, STR, Dharmapuri, and Hosur and is Asian elephants' greatest habitat. Each year, 110 of the 940 deaths occur during April and May, when the summer season is at its peak.
Elephants usually spend most of their time in Karnataka's Mudumalai and Bandipur, as well as Kerala's Wayanad, until November, when they migrate to Coimbatore and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, where they stay until May. Calves have a high mortality rate due to a variety of reasons.
Animals, even mothers, find it difficult to cope with the heat and obtain nourishing grass throughout migration. Calves must also rely on stagnant water to survive, and their moms sometimes abandon them, resulting in a greater mortality rate.
They fully appease their hunger in ideal foraging locations like Mudumalai, Bandipur, and Wayanad, and restrict their consumption in sub-optimal foraging places like Coimbatore. Elephants should continue to move from place to place in order to keep forests healthy.
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