World Elephant Day at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala - August 2022

World Elephant Day is an international annual event, dedicated to the preservation and pro­tection of the world’s elephants. The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness on el­ephant conservation, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better protection and management of wild and captive elephants.

The current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000 - 60000 Asian ele­phants in the world. More than 60% of the population is held in India. Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species in the Conference of Parties of CMS 13 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat in February 2020. World Elephant Day is being cel­ebrated to bring attention of various stakeholders to support various conservation policies to help elephants, including improving enforcement policies to prevent the illegal poaching and trade of ivory, conserving elephant habitats, providing better treatment for captive elephants and reintroducing some captive elephants into sanctuaries. Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India and India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.

The World Elephant Day 2022 was celebrated on 12th August 2022 in Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala. Hon’ble Minister EF & CC and Hon’ble Minister of State were the Chief Guests for the event.

During the event, the following publications were also released by Hon’ble Minister EF & CC and Hon’ble Minister of State:

1. Elephant Reserves of India: An Atlas – Version - 1
2. Land-use and Land-cover for the Elephant Reserves – Version – 1
3. Caring for elephants: Managing health and welfare in captivity
4. Special edition of Trumpet newsletter for commemorating 30 years completion of Project Elephant
5. Field manual for Managing Human-Elephant Conflict: