Bhubaneswar: Ace Nature Lover and Wildlife Conservator Susanta Nanda is happy with elephants are enjoying conducive environment in Odisha Forests, for which their numbers are on rise.
PCCF Wildlife Shri Nanda is leading the Team Wildlife in the State for protection of wildlife in general and elephants, tigers and other wild animals in the forests of the State.
World Elephant Day is being celebrated in different elephant centuries across the State today.
A special programme has been organized here at Nandankanan Zoological Park to celebrate the day with the elephants residing there.
Odisha is the home for 2098 elephants, as per the latest elephant census report released recently. The estimation was conducted during the month of May this year.
A total of 2098 elephants including 313 adult tuskers, 13 adult makhna, 748 adult female, 148 sub-adult male, 282 sub-adult female, 209 juvenile and 385 calfs were there in 48 forest divisions across 28 districts of the State.
During the last elephant census conducted in 2017, there were 1976 jumbos which comprises 212 adult tuskers, 10 adult makhna, 816 adult cow, 122 sub-adult male, 276 sub-adult female, 38 of unknown sex, 203 juvenile and 299 calf, officials said.
Significant increase in the number is reported in few divisions like Angul, Athgarh, Dhenkanal, Baripada, Chandaka, Khurda, Bonai and Keonjhar forest divisions.
Significant change in movement pattern of elephants was also noticed in Angul, Rourkela and Baripada circles.
There has been a substantial increase in the population of tuskers to the extent of 40 percent during the last seven years. This has resulted in a healthy ratio of adult male to females and also a significant number of young ones in the entire population, the PCCF Shri Nanda said.
Due to the positive environment, elephants from Jharkhand and West Bengal are also moving towards Odisha.
A total of 584 elephants were counted in three elephant reserves which is about 28 percent of the total elephant population of the State.
Odisha now has a large, well established elephant population with a stable age distribution with a growth rate of around 3 percent, the officials stated.