INDIA’S VISION FOR ELEPHANT CONSERVATION
- O&A Team
- September 1, 2025
- Bonus Read, Conservation
- Artificial intelligence for conservation, Biodiversity conservation, Conserving Indian elephants, Cultural value of elephants, Dr Thelma John David, human elephant conflict, Indian Consul General South Africa, Project Elephant, Project Tiger, Sensor-based tracking, Water conservation and elephants
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During the recent Elephant Indaba, O&A was inspired by the dedication of the Indian government to elephant conservation – and the advice shared with South Africa’s environmental agencies
Despite the fact that the distinctive Indian elephant is an important religious symbol, the world’s most populated country still has its fair share of often tragic elephant human conflicts.
Yet, this is seen as a problem to be solved rather than insurmountable obstacle – so much so that, in 2010, India declared the elephant a national conservation animal and has harnessed everything from technology to community labour to keep these iconic creatures at the centre of conservation efforts.
According to India’s Consul General, Dr Thelma John David, since the launch of Project Elephant in 1992, everything from Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven sensor-based tracing, satellite tracking, investment in community-based water preservation projects and the creation of a national wildlife database have culminated in the creation of a comprehensive framework of conservation policies and initiatives.
All, she notes, have been “integrated around the space of the mighty elephant” and have seen a massive increase in the amount of space set aside for elephant conservation. Today, the country’s 29 000 plus elephants have a network of 1014 protected areas with 33 of them declared specifically as elephant parks.
There will always be pressures between man and beast she acknowledges.
“But part of that is about understanding and finding ways to preserve space for the elephants because, being a large herbivore, they do need very large areas for foraging. I believe that what has been key to our success is creating biomes across spatially distributed regions throughout India – geographically, in the north, northeast, south and the western part of the Indian subcontinent. We also entered into working relations with our neighbouring countries because this big animal is a trans-border, creature by habit,” she explains.
In total, India has set aside about 80 000 square kilometres of protected areas for elephant as a result of this expansive strategy: “They come under various nomenclatures – the reserve forest, protected parks, and also pure conservation areas. So, 80000 square kilometres have been dedicated, earmarked for being the home for the wild elephant. They not only span different countries, but also about 30 provinces. So, a lot of our effort has been about bringing together the policy which then helps our states, our law enforcement and wildlife protection agencies to understand and to work around this,” she says.
JOINING HANDS FOR ELEPHANTS
Unlike many countries, including South Africa, where environmental issues are consigned to a single department and different authorities tend to operate in silos, the Indian government has taken a more holistic approach with various department all contributing to a much larger biodiversity conservation program.
“India’s commitment to compacting and to preserving its biodiversity has also been embedded into Project Elephant, as well as integrated into what we call Project Tiger, where we look to preserve tigers in the wild. They are all complementary. So, the effort that we put into one actually bears results in others too. If we preserve large spaces for elephants, this automatically preserves areas for tigers and other species that we are looking to conserve,” Dr John David continues.
“It is also a truth and a reality that in India, we’ve been able to find ways to bring in tourism, to appreciate and understand the spaces by developing tourism hubs around these areas. That is another driver that has helped in the conservation of elephants in India.”
She says there are two distinct elements to managing the human animal interface: “One is to preserve elephants in their biome. We did need to deal with poachers, the poaching cycles, the people who are the end users, the buyers. Various mechanisms have been put in place through cameras, introducing plain clothes people who have camps inside elephant areas where they can track elephants. A whole spectrum of resources has been used in various parts of India. We’ve been able to stabilize the Indian elephant population.”
TECHNOLOGY MEETS ELEPHANTS
Nevertheless, the main challenge remains dealing with elephants that are outside of their natural habitats, looking for easier foraging among cash crops which are being grown on agricultural land as well as water.
Even now, she says, India has more than 500 human conflict incidents almost every year and about 100 elephant conflicts where elephants have been injured as they move into inhabited areas due to electric fences or railway tracks.
The response from the Indian government and various wildlife institutions has been AI with sensor-based tracking and radio tagging of animals.
“In the past couple of years where we have had very high instances of deaths of elephants while crossing railway tracks, we’ve been able to use satellite imagery and also heat sensors to track elephants as they cross railway tracks. I think that is probably (the most important) example, one which some other countries may want to take further, and we would welcome that.”
Another important challenge was keeping elephants within their designated areas.
“A key part of that was to developing water holes within their own spaces. We did this as part of our larger national water policy. We talked about water conservation and how to re-channel it into the spaces we have, by treating the water as something that elephants need and to which they will go back.
“A common theme that came up where we wanted to address elephant specific issues was prioritizing, creating and maintaining water holes. It included even creating dams within forest areas or protected areas to ensure that herds can find water at peak times instead of going to the neighbouring human settlements. This was developed over time by finding the intensity of the human and elephant interactions and trying to understand, did the elephant come for food, or for water?”
She admits that solutions were the offshoots of a lot of research and a lot of data gathering. This was then integrated to find answers: “Today, the national action plan on climate change and India’s water mission has this as part of a set agenda of creating water holes and other mechanisms to ensure there is sufficient forage and water for these animals.
“We’ve also led on financial mechanisms like compensatory deforestation and fund management planning to channel resources for this ecological restoration project. So, neighbouring communities are given options for jobs and employment creation for maintaining these water bodies in these areas. We also have a flagship program which is part of the National Employment Generation program, which is known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Programmes allow us to hire labour from local areas to develop projects.”
ELEPHANTS AS PART OF HERITAGE
Dr John David says that the successes achieved so far were only possible when all involved respected and understood that elephants were part of India’s heritage and of national and cultural value.
“Today, when we celebrate Dinesh, when we celebrate our festivals, which are around elephants, and we celebrate all that is in that sphere, it reiterates the fact that it is for our common humanity and also for our children’s inheritance that we must preserve and conserve. It is no secret that we are very strongly against poaching and trade in products which endanger species. Having that national and international understanding has helped us implement national, state level and community led actions to preserve elephants which I believe will be a legacy for not just for India, but for the world,” she says.
This year’s World Elephant Day had the Consul General of India looking at the role of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as part of the way forward: “Today, all of our communities are responsible for taking care of what is the world’s largest herbivore, to care of them in a way that they can enjoy their space and we are able to live along with them and celebrate their legacy… In India, we do have people who live their entire lives with elephants. In fact, we have domesticated elephants. We strive to come together to understand and to respect each other and find ways forward,” she concludes.
