CHENNAI: The wild elephant population in Tamil Nadu has increased to 3,063, as per the latest synchronised elephant population estimation report released by Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday. This is an increase of over 100 elephants compared to the previous census conducted last year.
The Tamil Nadu forest department in coordination with neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh conducted a synchronised elephant population estimation from May 23 to 25. Officials told TNIE that Karnataka was compiling the data for the entire landscape whose results will be made public on August 12, which is World Elephant Day. The contiguous landscape in these states holds around 15,000 elephants.
Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy told TNIE the population of around 3,000 to 3,500 elephants is what Tamil Nadu forests can hold. "We consider the current population as stable and healthy. Elephants are typically long-ranging animals and are distributed across landscapes covering different states. There will not be drastic changes in future as well."
D Venkatesh, field director, Mudumalai tiger reserve, said the estimate of 3,063 was arrived with 95% confidence. The lower and upper limit is 3054 and 3071 respectively.
Present age-specific population estimates indicate more adult elephants (40%) in the population than other age-structures. Adult dominated age structures are common in Asian elephant populations given their long life span and slow reproductive rate. Elephants are polygynous species with an expected equal sex ratio at birth. A normal male to female ratio for elephants would be 1:1.87. Similar normal male to female ratio for elephants was noticed at present synchronised elephant population estimation in Tamil Nadu. Earlier studies reported a highly skewed sex ratio in Tamil Nadu due to selective poaching of males in past decades.
The total area of elephant distribution divisions is approximately 17,737.31 sq.km in Tamil Nadu, among which the effective elephant habitat comprises 8,989.63 sq.km of which 3,277.87 sq.km areas (36%) were sampled during this population estimation in the state.
Among the 26 forest divisions, Udhagai, Masinagudi, Gudalur, Sakthi, Hassanur and Hosur had the highest population and density of elephants. These six forest divisions are within the Nilgiri Elephant Reserve highlighting its importance for the elephants of Tamil Nadu.
The Nilgiri Elephant Reserve and Coimbatore Elephant Reserve have the highest density and estimated population of elephants among the five elephant reserves in the state. The elephants of these two reserves can be treated as a single large population, nearly 70–80% of the total number of elephants in the state. Further, these two reserves are contiguous with Wayanad and Nilambur elephant reserves of Kerala and Mysore elephant reserve of Karnataka, and are collectively called the Nilgiri-Eastern Ghats landscape. This harbours the largest population of wild Asian elephants, the report said.
Forest officials said that although the elephant population in the state is healthy, there are several challenges hampering conservation including encroachments in elephant corridors, electrocutions and change in elephants behaviour and migration paths due to climate change factors etc.
Only recently, the state government notified the Power Fences (Registration and Regulation) Rules, 2023 to protect wildlife, especially elephants, from getting electrocuted. In the last 10 years, around 100 elephants have died due to electrocution in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, the number of people dying in human-elephant conflict is also on the rise in Tamil Nadu. A total of 256 people died in the last five years and 61 people died in 2023-24 alone, as per the information submitted in the Lok Sabha.