Elephant

The ecological messages in two recent poignant and thought-provoking films are unsettling and disturbing, but they also offer an alternative model to conservation

Protests broke out in several parts of this high range district on Thursday with locals taking to the roads and blocking traffic, aggrieved over the Kerala High Court's decision not to permit capture of 'Arikomban', a wild tusker, for the time being. The High Court had on Wednesday constituted a five-member expert committee to take a decision on what action should be taken with regard to Arikomban, so named as it raids ration shops and houses for rice. The panel has to communicate its decision to the court by April 5, till when capture of the elephant has been prohibited. The court only permitted tranquilising and radio collaring of the tusker if it forayed into inhabited areas despite the best efforts of the forest and wildlife personnel to deter it from doing so. Protesting against the court's decision, people of several panchayats of the district came out onto the roads and blocked traffic in some areas, according to TV visuals. The protesting public, including women and childr

Poachers kill 41 jumbos in 5 yrs; activists warn against India taking a softer stance on international ivory trade

President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate a two-day "Gaj Utsav" on April 7 in Assam's Kaziranga National Park to commemorate the successful completion of 30 years of Project Elephant and to give more impetus to conservation efforts, Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Friday. India launched Project Elephant in 1991-92 as a centrally-sponsored scheme to protect elephants, their habitat and corridors, prevent human-elephant conflict and to ensure the welfare of captive elephants in India. "The government has decided to celebrate 'Gaj Utsav' at Kaziranga National Park on April 7-8 to commemorate 30 years of Project Elephant. President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate it on April 7," Choubey told reporters here. A first-of-its-kind event, the festival will see the participation of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, forest ministers of all elephant range states, principal conservators of forests, chief wildlife wardens, representatives

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday felicitated Bomman and Belli -- who had featured in the Oscar-winning documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers', here. The couple, caretakers of elephants at Mudumalai in the Nilgiris district, met the Chief Minister, days after the documentary bagged the Academy Award. Stalin presented each of them cheques of Rs 1 lakh, besides a shield and shawl to honour them, an official release said. 'The Elephant Whisperers', in its 39-minute runtime, depicts an unbreakable bond between two abandoned elephant calves Raghu and Amu and their caretakers, Bomman and Belli. It is produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain of Sikhya Entertainment. The release said the documentary showcased the Tamil Nadu forest department's functioning and the efforts towards elephant caretaking. The CM has announced Rs 1 lakh each to the 91 persons working in the two elephant camps in Tamil Nadu -- Mudumalai and Anaimalai, it added. He has also announced Rs 9.10 crore .

A herd of wild elephants ventured into a rubber estate in this high range district on Sunday and withstood repeated efforts of the forest authorities to chase them back into the forest. A senior forest official of the district said that the herd of eight pachyderms, including a calf, entered the estate at Peruvanthanam here early today. We reached the site at around 10 AM after being informed by the locals and since then we have been trying to chase the herd back into the forest, but to no avail, the official said. He said the herd was hiding deep inside the estate covered by dense foliage where it was difficult for the officials to go and therefore, it was proving difficult to chase away the wild elephants. A similar incident had occurred a week ago, the official said and added that back then the herd, believed to be the same one as now, had returned to the forest on its own. "This time too they may go back on their own. However, we are stationed here to keep track of their movem

After a postmortem examination was conducted, the forest officials on Sunday confirmed that the tusk of the dead elephant found in Coimbatore was removed days after its death.

Odisha has reported the country's highest number of human casualties in elephant attacks during the past three years

Earlier this week, the Assam government filed a petition in Guwahati High Court seeking the custody of Joyamala, a temple elephant that the state had given to Tamil Nadu on lease

The Gauhati High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to give permission and security to a delegation from Assam while inspecting the elephants taken from here to temples of the southern state. Justice Suman Shyam, hearing a petition filed by the Assam government, passed an interim order that permission should be granted to the delegation to inspect the elephants within three days after the court order is made available to them. The judge also directed the Tamil Nadu chief secretary and director general of police to provide necessary security to the Assam delegation while they go for the inspection. The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently released a video alleging that an elephant named Joymala was being tortured and kept captive at the Andal temple in Srivalliputhur in Chennai. As the video went viral, the Assam government sent a team of four members, comprising elephant experts, forest and police officers to inspect the condition of the elephan

A wild elephant was killed after being hit by a goods train in Assam's Hojai district on Thursday evening.According to an official, the incident took place when the elephant tried to cross the railway track.Sabyasachi De, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NF Railway told ANI that, the incident took place near Hawaipur in Hojai district at around 6.20 pm on Thursday when the elephant tried to cross the railway track."The elephant was hit by a cement-laden goods train. After getting dashed, the elephant fell down on the track," the NF Railway CPRO said.

World Elephant Day is celebrated across the world today. What are its history, importance, and significance globally? Read this article to know everything about World Elephant Day

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