The Asian elephant, Elephas Maximus whose ancestors originated in Africa 55 million years ago and ranged from Modem lraq and Syria to the yellow river in China, is now found only from India to Vietnam with a tiny besieged population in the extreme south west of China’s Yunnan Province.
An animal which evokes respect and awe is being driven out of his home because of deforestation and habitat fragmentation due to activities such as construction/expansion of railways lines and roads, canals, dams, urbanization, expanding agriculture, etc which are intruding into its habitat. Besides the loss of habitat, the age old migratory routes of the elephants are also being lost which is leading to the increase in incidence of man –elephant conflict resulting in loss of both human and elephant and elephant lives.
Today 20% of the world’s human population lives in or near the present range of Asian Elephant. Fierce competition for space has resulted in human suffering, an alarming loss of forest cover, which has reduced Asian elephant’s numbers to less than 50,000 in the wild. In India the density of elephant population in different states range from 42 per 100 Sq. km to as small 2-9 per 100 sq.km
The very fact that Indian accounts for about 56% of the total population of the Asian elephant calls for the need to reaffirm the support for conservation of the elephants and its habitat.
Heavy poaching for ivory in the recent past has left many populations with few male elephants which has severely affected the sex ratio from 1:2.5(Male: Female) in some areas notably in southern India, Cambodia and Vietnam.
In India, the elephant is worshipped as lord ganesha and his blessings are invoked before initiating any new work. He is revered and adored in most of the South East Asia. The elephant is inextricably linked with culture, literature, folklore and religion in many parts of Asia.
The initiative ”SAVE THE GIANT” has been started by the GREEN GLOBE GROUP to support endangered Asian elephants. In the Initiative, we have collected some of the most amazing collection of Wild Asian Elephant pictures taken by the best wildlife photographers all over the India to showcase the beauty power and majesty of these highly intelligent and sensitive animals and it hoped that it will help in securing a better future for these gentle giants.
