World Elephant Day 2021: Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav says human-animal conflict must be resolved - In pics

On World Elephant Day, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said 'public participation and local knowledge' are necessary tools for elephant conservation and addressing man-animal conflicts, PTI reported. 

Addressing an event, Yadav said, "We need to identify areas where man-animal conflicts exist. We will have to visit local areas while framing a policy to address these issues."

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Thursday observed World Elephant Day to draw special attention towards human-animal conflicts. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released the all-India synchronised methodology for elephant and tiger population estimation, which has been converged for the first time. 

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

The IUCN Red List of threatened species has placed Asian elephants in "endangered" category. As per current population estimates, there are about 50,000 -60,000 Asian elephants in the world. More than 60 percent of them are in India, PTI reported. 

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

According to the recent data of World Wide Fund for Nature on elephants, approximately 440,000 elephants are left on the planet. It added that around 15,000 elephants are hunted by poachers every year. 

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

In 2012, Thailand-based Elephant Reintroduction Foundation joined hands with Canadian filmmaker Patricia Sims to organise the events on World Elephant Day. Since then, August 12 is observed as World Elephant Day.

Pic Courtesy: Reuters