49 Elephants killed by hunters in 2021

While answering an RTI query, a Central government agency said around 49 elephants were killed across India by hunters in 2021 and law-enforcement agencies have arrested 77 accused in the matter.

Expressing concern over the poaching situation, Noida-based social and animal rights activist Ranjan Tomar had asked in his RTI the information from the WCCB to ensure the protection of the elephants in their natural habitat to raise awareness about it.

WCCB or Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, which functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated in the RTI reply that maximum killings were recorded in Assam (9) followed by West Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu (8 each), Karnataka and Uttarakhand (3 each). Both Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh logged two cases of elephant killings while Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra had one case each.

In terms of arrests related to the killings of elephants, the maximum 17 people were held in Tamil Nadu followed by 15 in Assam, 13 in Odisha, 11 in West Bengal.

While five people were held in Kerala, four each in Uttarakhand and Bihar, three in Maharashtra, two each in Meghalaya and Rajasthan and one in Karnataka.

According to a 2017 census by Project Elephant, India has the largest number of wild Asian elephants, estimated at around 30,000 – about 60 per cent of the species’ global population.

But hundreds of elephants have also been killed over the years due to human-animal conflict, loss of natural habitat, and by hunters for ivory & meat.