Context
Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Union government to conduct a fresh survey of elephant corridors and stressed that these pathways should not be blocked merely due to fear of crop damage. The Court also sought alternatives to coercive methods used to divert elephants.
Explanation
- Elephant corridors are narrow natural pathways connecting two or more larger elephant habitats, allowing safe movement between them.
- Asian elephants have large home ranges and move long distances for food, water, breeding and seasonal migration.
- India’s 2023 assessment identified 150 elephant corridors across 15 States.
- India has four major elephant landscapes: Western Ghats, North-Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra floodplains, Shivalik Hills and Gangetic plains, and Central India–Eastern Ghats.
- Roads, railways, canals, mining and settlements cause habitat fragmentation, obstructing traditional elephant routes.
- Such fragmentation can push elephants into farms and settlements, increasing human–elephant conflict.
- Connected corridors facilitate gene flow, prevent genetic isolation and provide seasonal access to resources.
- The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List
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Elephant Corridors: Balancing Conservation and Conflict