BENGALURU: Over the last six years, elephant numbers have gone up by about 350 in Karnataka as per a three-day exercise conducted in May 17 to 19 this year, said Minister for Forests and Environment Eshwar Khandre in Bengaluru on Wednesday while releasing the Elephant estimation-2023 report. The elephant estimation is done once in five years.
The previous elephant estimation done in 2017 stated that Karnataka had about 6049 elephants and the latest estimation report said that the elephant numbers to be around 6395 in 23 divisions of the State. The three-day elephant estimation also involved neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu with which Karnataka shares boundaries.
The estimation of elephants was using direct count method, dung count method and waterhole count method in 32 forest divisions and of which 23 divisions reported elephant sightings during the estimation. As many as 3,400 forest personnel were involved in the elephant count in an area spread about 6104 square kilometer.
The Minister said “The estimation of elephants covered a vast area which is first and the report is reliable.” A sizeable number of elephant population was in Bandipur Tiger Reserve also an elephant reserve spread across Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts having about 1116 elephants followed by Nagarahole Tiger Reserve with elephant population of about 831 spread across Mysuru and Madikeri districts, Male Mahadeshwara Hills a wildlife sanctuary in Chamarajanagar reported to have 706 elephants, BR Hills a tiger reserve in Chamarajnagar had about 619 elephants and 445 elephants in Bhadra Tiger Reserve of Chikkamagaluru district.
Divisions such as Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru had 5 elephants, Kolar had about 13, two in Haliyal division, 8 in Bhadravathi division and 2 in Yellapur division. The estimation report stated that 32.33 percent of the total elephant numbers were adult female and 18.20 percent were adult male.
Over the reasons for the rise in elephant numbers, Ecologist Raman Sukumar of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru told Deccan Chronicle that during the 2017 estimation of elephants in Karnataka many elephants migrated to Kerala owing to dry conditions here. Now, during the 2023 estimation, the conditions were much better in Karnataka many elephants might have returned to their habitat here.
According to Sukumar, in 2023 estimation included coffee plantations of Hassan, Madikeri and others having elephant concentrations leading to rise in the numbers.
