India’s Jumbo Population Falls Sharply: Study

bengaluru: There has been an alarming decline in India’s wild elephant population; The latest estimate for 2021-25 shows a sharp decline from previous counts. Experts attribute this decline to habitat loss, fragmentation of forest corridors, mining and encroachment, among other pressures on the country’s forests.

According to the DNA-based Simultaneous All India Population Estimate of Elephants (SAIEE) titled Status of Elephants in India (2021-25), the elephant population across the country is estimated at 22,446 compared to 27,694 recorded in the 2017 estimate. Previous studies had shown a steady increase from 19,558 elephants in 1978-83 to 30,051 in 2012; It marked the beginning of a downward trend before the first decline occurred in 2017.

Despite the overall decline, Karnataka continues to lead the country in elephant numbers, hosting 6,103 of the total 22,446 elephants. The state’s herds, concentrated in protected areas of the Western Ghats, are thought to be relatively safe from threats affecting elephant populations elsewhere.

Covering more than 400,000 square kilometers of forest area divided into 100 square kilometer cells, the SAIEE exercise covered four broad regions: Shivalik-Gangetic Plains, Central India and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats and North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra floodplains.

Historical review of the data shows steady growth until the last decade: 25,569 elephants were counted in 1993, 25,842 in 1995, 26,373 in 2002, 27,694 in 2007, and 30,051 in 2012. The population decreased marginally to 29,964 in 2017, followed by a significant decline in 2017. 22,446 in 2021–25. Among the states, after Karnataka, Assam ranks second with 4,159 elephants, followed by Tamil Nadu with 3,136 elephants, Kerala with 2,785 elephants, Uttarakhand with 1,792 elephants and Odisha with 912 elephants.

The report underlines that elephants in different regions face different threats. Those in the Western Ghats, Shivalik-Gangetic Plains and North Eastern Hills are affected by habitat loss, land fragmentation, encroachment and linear infrastructure such as roads and railways cutting off traditional migration corridors. In central India, the primary threat comes from intensive mining activities that disrupt forest habitats and elephants’ movement paths.

Experts say the findings serve as a wake-up call to strengthen conservation measures and secure landscape connectivity before India’s elephant population, once a conservation success story, faces irreversible decline.