Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Operation Jumbo to capture Wild Elephants 

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Operation Jumbo and prospect States

Mains level: NA

Why in the news?

The Forest Department has resumed Operation Jumbo to capture trouble-causing wild elephants and fix radio collars in Hassan division of Karnataka.

What is Operation Jumbo?

  • Operation Jumbo is a campaign launched by the Karnataka government to capture and radio-collar rogue wild elephants that frequently enter human habitations.
  • It is effective in five districts of the state, namely Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Ramanagara, and Bengaluru. 
  • The objective of this operation is to manage elephant movement and mitigate conflicts through continuous tracking using GPS-equipped radio collars, which have a battery life of three years.

Implementation of Operation Jumbo

  • The cost of capturing and radio-collaring each wild elephant is approximately Rs 22 lakh, with Rs 7 lakh spent on each radio collar imported from South Africa.
  • The operation involves a diverse team of 70-80 individuals, including forest officers, veterinarians, mahouts, and other support staff.
  • It includes tasks such as surveillance, tracking, darting wild animals from the back of trained elephants, and securing the rescued tusker.

Elephants in India

Details
Population Estimate
  • India hosts the largest population of wild Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus), with around 29,964 individuals,
  • Approximately 60% of the global population (2017 census).
Leading States Karnataka holds the highest number of elephants, followed by Assam and Kerala.
Conservation Status
  • IUCN Red List:  Endangered.
  • CMS: Appendix I.
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Listed under Schedule I,
  • CITES: Appendix I.
Conservation Initiatives
  • Project Elephant launched in 1992, covering 23 states across India.
  • Contributed to the increase in wild elephant population from around 25,000 in 1992 to about 30,000 in 2021.
  • Establishment of Elephant Reserves. Total 33 in numbers covering approximately 80,777 Sq.km.

PYQ:

[2020] With reference to Indian elephants, consider the following statements:

  1. The leader of an elephant group is a female.
  2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
  3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
  4. Among the States in India, the highest elephant population is in Kerala.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 4 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 3 and 4 only

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