National Symbols Of India

National Heritage Animal

Elephant- National Heritage Animal of India

The Indian Government took an initiative to declare elephants as national heritage animal with this aim to give them better protection through implying different measures. Native of the mainland Asia, Indian elephants are one of the Asian elephant subspecies that are commonly of three types. Elephas Maximus species is endangered elephant for that IUCN announced that its population has already come down to half since 1986. Estimation was for its three generations comprising of 60–75 year time period. Factors like fragmentation, habitat loss and degradation are key aspects that caused threaten to this species.

Characteristics

Key difference between the Asian and African elephants is that former are comparatively smaller than the later with the head being the highest body point in them. A finger-like process is there in their trunk tip while the pack portion remains leveled or in convex style. The features of Indian elephants are that they have 2 to 3.5 m (6.6 and 11.5 ft) shoulder height with the usual weight from 2,000 to 5,000 kgs or 4,400 and 11,000 lb. Such elephants have 19 pairs of ribs while their skin color remains comparatively lighter unlike the small depigmentation patches of maximus species of elephants. They though remain darker unlike sumatranus species. With short or no tusks female elephants are smaller in size.

Researches reveal the largest of Indian elephant measuring at 3.43 meters or 11.3 ft hight at shoulder level. Two large elephant bulls had been seen in Bardia National Park in 1985 for first time which were named to Raja Gaj and Kanchha respectively. Both the elephants would keep roaming the park together and would rarely go to the female elephants. With massive body weight Raja Gaj would stand at 11.3 ft. or 3.4 m tall. As he represented high bi-domed shaped head the appearance looked as if of mammoth. The forehead and domes of this elephant remained more prominent instead of rest bull elephants in the Asian region.

Difference between Indian and African elephants is that ears of former category are small but skull and trunks are huge compared to former categories. Broader as well as larger toes are other distinctions of Indian elephants. Other notable difference is that there is good proportion between body weight and abdomen of Indian elephants while those from Africa have large size abdomen not in consonant to skull.

Distribution and Habitat

Elephants from the Indian subcontinent category belong to Asia’s mainland as natives of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malay Peninsula, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China and Vietnam et al. In fact they feel better in inhabiting in the grasslands and dry cum moist climatic condition and in thorough evergreen or semi-evergreen forestry areas. The estimated population size of these elephants as per the calculations done in early 1990s were:-

• 26,390–30,770 in India itself with restriction of their population in four general categories:

• Northwest regions comprising of Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand states with the areas covering Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to Yamuna River regions;
• Northeast area covering neighboring country Nepal’s eastern border to West Bengal state in north and western side covering Assam state in the foothills of Himalayas to going far to the Mishmi Hills of the neighboring eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Equally does it cover the upper Assam plains and nearby Nagaland foothills to the Meghalaya state’s Garo Hills until the Khasi Hills besides some potion of lower Brahmaputra plain as well as Karbi Plateau. It is common scene to see isolated elephant herds in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and especially in Assam’s Barak Valley areas;  
• Central India comprising of the states of Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal’s southern region, so are elephants seen wandering in the Chattisgarh forests;
• The Southern region of India too has unique platform for the eight options for elephants for secure living. Their fragmentation in various locations in Karnataka from north to other parts from the Western Ghats to Bhadra–Malnad. The places like Brahmagiri–Nilgiris to Eastern Ghats and Nilambur–Silent Valley–Coimbatore besides Anamalai–Parambikulam and Periyar–Srivilliputhur as well as Agasthyamalai make great option;
• Areas nearby Terai in Nepal borders India to protect 100–125 elephant in this country. These are protected locations where elephants get support with best platform for living. According to 2002 estimations the number of elephants were 106 to 172 that included both resident and migratory categories. Bardia National Park is a place where maximum elephants stay;
• The Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh accommodates nearly 150–250 elephants but these are only isolated elephants in the country;
• Southern Bhutan bordering India accommodates 250–500 elephants in this country which limits to protected regions only to support this animal’s population;
• Myanmar accommodates 4,000–5,000 elephants and such population are patchy that could be seen in hill ranges of north and west. Other places are Pegu Yoma in central part and Tenasserim and Shan State states;
• Thailand has 2,500–3,200 elephant in the mountainous areas bordering Myanmar. This country’s southern peninsula sees little scrappy elephant population;
• Malaysia accommodates 2,100–3,100 elephants;
• Laos has 500–1,000 elephants whose fragmentation in forestry areas including the plateaus and lowlands spread elephant population;
• China’s Xishuangbanna, Simao and southern Yunnan’s Lincang houses 200–250 elephants and do survive in such areas;
• Cambodia accommodates 250–600 elephants in and around Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces in the southwest mountainous regions;
• Southern area of Vietnam has 70–150 elephants.

Threats

Issues like cases of fragmentation, degradation and loss of habitat have been causing too much threats to Asian elephants. It all has also caused due to fast human population expansion which caused too much skirmishes amongst human beings and elephants all around Indian subcontinent. It usually turns a bad situation while elephants trample or eat the crops. The elephant loss due to affect in the habitat still continues. The reservoirs are the only places where elephants find time for free movement. Such effects on elephants can also be through the hydroelectric projects, irrigation dams or multiple related projects from cultivation for plantation purposes or railway lines & highways, fast industrial development and or projects for mining et al.

Conservation of elephant in the West Bengal state has literally stopped because of the multiple factors from increased human–elephant conflicts and railway accixdents causing too much elephant deaths. The 74 kilometer long stretch of railway track from Siliguri to Alipurduar faces many forest divisions where such accidents are common. High speed trains numbering to 20 crosses through these tracks each day. In many cases elephants die while they pass from one forest patch to other and cross the railway track. The time frame from 1958 to 2008 witnessed the death of 39 dead elephants as it has been reported till the period of research. Ten deaths out of them all were from 2004 to 2008 itself.
Ironically there has occurred fast reduction of forest areas in Bangladesh over the decades just to leave direct or indirect impact on the population of wildlife animals especially wild elephants. Fast increase of human population has enhanced fuel, timber and wood needs which affect the elephant habitat loss so are the cases of fragmentation. It caused more harms due to illegal timber extraction businesses which are in full swing and remains the key modus operandi for habitat degradation and deforestation factors. Elephants come into conflict with humans directly or indirectly due to shrinking habitat and other related cases to cause such damages.

Some parts of Asia encounters severe challenge of elephant poaching for ivories which is alarming issue. Sex ratio of elephants get affected and common scenario develops through poaching cases for the tusk smuggling which have left wrong impact on elephants. Periyar Tiger Reserve has observed a dramatically tilted sex ratio of elephants due to poaching cases with studies ranging from a period starting from 1969 till 1989. Adult male and female sex ratio has becoming 1:122 from 1:6 is too much serious issue.

Increased demand of tourist items from elephant ivory has increased in Myanmar in the last couple of decades. This country’s government has hardly taken any interest in lessening ivory trade to resolve such serious issue for protection of elephants which are major victims. When ivory ban happened worldwide the raw ivory rates increased drastically. Large tusks were sold at $76 for one kilo during 1989/90 which skyrocketed to more than $200 a kilo by mid of 1990 due to ban. The illegal elephant killings are mainly because of foreign tourists demanding such products which bring rise of ivory tusks. Business of ivory chopsticks and carvings increased too much so smuggling from Myanmar to China is now common scene.

The unfortunate scene is that a few young elephants are separated from their mothers soon after birth and sent to Thailand from Myanmar for lucrative tourism industry. It is ironical that mothers elephants are often murdered and babies are kept along the caws to give them the feel of mothers to run their business. In fact two-thirds of baby elephants die because of subject to various types of factors from tying them, confining or even starving besides the cases of beating and torturing them.