CHENNAI: The Union Environment Ministry on Wednesday cleared the Tamil Nadu forest department's proposal to declare 1,197.48 sq.km in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli as Agasthiyarmalai Elephant Reserve. This is the fifth elephant reserve Tamil Nadu will be managing.
"In an important step towards conserving our national heritage animal, I am thrilled to share with you that Tamil Nadu will bring 1,197.48 sq km area under Agasthiyarmalai Elephant Reserve," Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted.
Once the reserve is notified, the forest department can get additional funding under Centrally-sponsored Project Elephant. "Although the area is already protected as a reserve forest or wildlife sanctuary, elephant reserve status will focus on protection and conservation of elephants as indicator species representing a healthy ecosystem. Elephant corridors will be identified and better management practices can be adopted," a senior forest official said.
The official said the Periyar-Agasthyamalai landscape is estimated to have 1,800 Asian elephants (Census 2010). Of these, about 300 are isolated on the southern side in the Agasthyamalai and Mahendragiri hill ranges in Thiruvananthapuram Forest Division, Neyyar, Shendurney and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.
The elephant population south of this is in the Periyar-Agasthyamalai landscape in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and extends over 5,600 sq km across 16 forest divisions. The elephant habitat in the landscape comprises the southern part of the Periyar Plateau and its eastern spur, the Varushnad and Meghamalai hill ranges, the Achankoil valley, and the Agasthyamalai and Mahendragiri hill ranges on the southern side. "Notifying this landscape as an elephant reserve will bring focused management of this landscape and will secure the corridors that are most important for genetic dispersion of the Asian elephant in this landscape and will link the populations to other areas in Srivilliputhur Meghamalai tiger reserve and with the Periyar landscapes," the official added.” the official added.