Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday said human-elephant conflicts are increasing due to "competition for resources", with around 500 people in the country dying in elephant attacks and 100 jumbos "killed in retaliation" a♑nnually.
Addressing an event to mark the World Elephant Day at the Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, the minister said India has emerged as a pioneer in elephant conservation and managing human-elephant conflicts 𒈔is the major focus of the government.
"With competition for resources, (the number of) human-animal conflicts are increasing, and it is very unfortunate that around 500 people are killed in elephant attacks and 100 jumbos are killed in retaliation annually," Yad⭕av said.
"Managing human-elephant conflict is the major focus o⛎f the government. The Narendra Modi goverꦅnment has increased the ex-gratia amount for families of those killed in elephant attacks from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
"To find a long-term solution, we areꦉ revisiting the elephant corridors of the country and have finished more than 50 per cent of the task involving k🤪ey stakeholders," he said.
According to government data presented in Parliament last month, 1,578 people have died in elephant 🧜attacks in the country in the last three years.
The government said 222 elephants have died due to electrocution, 45 in train accidents, 29 due to poachin🐷g and ꦆ11 died due to poisoning during this period.
Yadav said India has done ꦏremarkably well in elephant conservation despite challenges.
The country has 29,964 jumbos, aཧccording to the latest elephant census🔴 in 2017.
"India continues to be a leader in elephant conservation. It has the largest and mos🍸t stable population of asian elephants. In fact, more than 60 percent of the wild asian elephants are in India," the minister said.
(With PTI inputs)
