BHUBANESWAR: The All Odisha Elephant Census 2024 (winter) has revealed that 2,103 elephants, including 474 males and 1,030 females, currently inhabit the Odisha landscape.
The findings were disclosed by the state forest department on Thursday, following the first winter census conducted in November.
The census, conducted over three days from November 14 to 16 across 48 forest and wildlife divisions, also highlighted significant inter-state movements of elephants, particularly from Jharkhand and West Bengal, during the cold season.
Evidence of elephant migration from Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh into Odisha was also observed.
The latest census figures showed no significant changes in the total population compared to the summer census conducted in May, where 2,098 elephants were recorded. However, there has been a shift in the gender ratio.
The current male-to-female-to-young ratio stands at 1:1.83:1.08, compared to 1:2.17:1.25 in May. “This change is due to an increase in the number of males in the sub-adult category,” stated the census report.
According to the latest data, Odisha's elephant population consists of 334 adult tuskers, 12 adult makhnas, 678 adult females, 186 sub-adult tuskers, four sub-adult makhnas, 181 juveniles, and 403 calves.
The census also noted a significant rise in elephant numbers in divisions such as Rourkela, Sambalpur, Athamallik, Ghumsur North, Kalahandi North, Kalahandi South, Balangir, and Rairakhol.
However, a decline was observed in areas like Similipal North, Satkosia Wildlife, Bamra Wildlife, and Rayagada divisions. The forest department attributed these changes to the seasonal inter-division and inter-state movement of elephants during winter.
The highest concentration of elephants was recorded in Dhenkanal division with 291 elephants, followed by Keonjhar (160), Athagarh (124), Deogarh (123), and Angul (117).
Conversely, no evidence of elephant presence was found in 13 divisions, including Chilika (Wildlife), Ghumsur South, Koraput, Jeypore, Nabarangpur, and Malkangiri in the southern region.
The report also highlighted that Odisha's elephant population is now well-established with a normal age distribution. Nevertheless, 48 elephant deaths were reported between the summer census in May and the winter census in November.
In light of the rising number of elephant fatalities, forest authorities underscored the importance of the census. It aids in understanding the exact population and movement patterns of elephants in Odisha—critical factors for assessing the human-elephant conflict scenario during the peak harvesting season.