World Elephant Day 2024: Background, Theme and Conservation Status

Every year since 2012, 12 August is observed around the world as World Elephant Day. The day seeks to raise the awareness of the world towards the challenges faced by the world’s largest mammals on land. 

Elephants are also called Pachyderms. The word was first used by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in the 1700s to denote hoofed animals with very thick skin. Elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, horses, pigs, etc., are examples of Pachyderms.

The elephants are found in the wild, mainly in Africa and Asia. The elephant population in these regions faces a threat from poachers for their ivory (external teeth of the elephant). There is an increasing human-elephant conflict due to the increasing encroachment of humans in the traditional habitat of the elephants.

Around 55 per cent of Asian elephants are found in India.  

Background to World Elephant Day  

Two Canadian filmmakers, Patricia Sims and Michael Clark, and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation based in Thailand observed the first World Elephant Day on 12 August 2012.

Patricia Sims runs an organisation dedicated to promoting the conservation effort for elephants called the World Elephant Society.

Theme of the World Elephant Day 2024

The World Elephant Society, based in California, the United States of America, announces the theme of World Elephant Day.

“Personifying prehistoric beauty, theological relevance, and environmental importance” has been chosen as the theme of World Elephant Day 2024.

Status of Elephants in India 

The government of India declared the elephant its national heritage in 2010, on the recommendation of the Elephant Task Force.

The  Elephant Task Force, headed by Mahesh Rangarajan, was set up by the government of India. The task force report, also known as the Gajah report, called for the setting up of the National Elephant Conservation Authority, just like the  National Tiger Conservation Authority, for the conservation and protection of elephants in india.

The report is yet to be accepted by the government of India. 

Elephant Conservation In India 

The legal protection for elephants is as follows:

• The elephant has been included in Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.  Any animal which is included in Schedule 1 enjoys absolute protection. 
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has included the elephants in its Appendix I.
• CITES is a multilateral treaty which seeks to regulate trade in animals and wildlife and protect them from overexploitation. India is a member of CITES.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed elephants as an endangered species.

Elephant Reserves in India 

The government of India launched Project Elephant in 1992 as a centrally sponsored project to protect elephants. Under Project Elephant, reserves were created for the elephants.

• As per the 2017 census, there were 27,312 elephants in India, the highest in Asia.
• At present, there are 33 elephant reserves in 14 major elephant states of India.
• 33rd Elephant Reserve: Terai Elephant Reserve in Uttar Pradesh (notified in 2022). First Elephant Reserve: Singhbhum Elephant Reserve of Jharkhand (notified on 26 September 2001).
• States having maximum Elephant Reserves: Odisha and Tamil Nadu 5 each.

States Having Elephant Reserves 

The following states have elephant reserves: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.