GPS Study Tracks Assam's Elephants

The Assam Forest Department and WWF-India released the report Tracking the Giants: Movement and Habitat-Use Patterns of GPS-Collared Elephants in Assam during the 72nd Wildlife Week.
The study uses GPS telemetry to understand elephant movement and habitat use in Assam.
It highlights the urgent need to strengthen Asian elephant conservation amid habitat fragmentation and human-elephant conflict (HEC).

Global share: India hosts more than 60% of the world's wild Asian elephant population.
Distribution: Over half of India's elephants live in the Western Ghats.
State-wise population: Karnataka has the highest elephant population, followed by Assam and Tamil Nadu.
Census shift: India released the Scientific Baseline DNA-based All India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE), moving beyond traditional visual counts.

Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Asian elephant is protected under Schedule I.
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): The mainland Asian elephant was added to Appendix I at CMS COP13, Gandhinagar.
Project Elephant (1992): Aims to conserve elephants, their habitats and corridors, and mitigate HEC.
Elephant Reserves: India has 33 notified Elephant Reserves across 14 states; Singhbhum was the first. Other examples include Terai and Agasthyamalai.
MIKE Programme: A CITES-linked monitoring system for illegal elephant killings and population trends.
Gajraj: An AI-based railway safety system for detecting elephants near railway tracks.

Elephants are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers.
They modify habitats, disperse seeds, create water sources, and open dense vegetation, supporting wider ecosystem health.
Protecting elephants therefore helps maintain forest structure, biodiversity, and ecological services.

Article 48A: State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife.
Article 51A(g): Fundamental duty of citizens to protect and improve the natural environment and have compassion for living creatures.
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Primary legal framework for wildlife protection and schedules.
CMS and CITES: International instruments relevant to migratory species and trade-related monitoring.

The topic links environment and ecology, biodiversity conservation, human-wildlife conflict, and technology in governance.
Prelims focus: population share, state rankings, legal schedules, CMS Appendix, Project Elephant, Elephant Reserves, MIKE, Gajraj, SAIEE.
Mains focus: corridor conservation, HEC mitigation, community participation, ecological restoration, and balancing infrastructure with wildlife protection.

Strengthen elephant corridors and prevent fragmentation.
Use technology such as GPS collars, AI-based warning systems, and early-warning networks.
Improve compensation and rapid response mechanisms for HEC.
Promote community-based conservation and inter-state coordination.
Integrate elephant conservation with land-use planning and railway/road safety.