Status of Elephants in India: DNA Based Synchronous All India Population Estimate of Elephants (SAIEE) 2021-2025 Warns of Severe Habitat Loss
SDG 15: Life on Land | SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Institutions: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), under the aegis of Project Elephant, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), has released the DNA Based Synchronous All India Population Estimation of Elephants (SAIEE) 2021-25, India’s first-ever DNA-based elephant census. The report established a new scientific baseline for monitoring the country’s endangered Asian elephant population at an estimated 22,446 individuals. While the figures show an estimated 17-25% drop compared to the 2017 census, experts advise the numbers are not directly comparable due to the methodological shift.
The SAIEE confirms that the Western Ghats remains the largest elephant stronghold with 11,934 elephants, though populations in Central India show steep drops, with Jharkhand seeing a nearly 68% decline and Odisha a 54% decline compared to 2017. The report highlights severe threats facing the species, including extensive habitat fragmentation due to mining, expanding commercial plantations, and linear infrastructure like roads and railways. This degradation exacerbates human-elephant conflict (HEC), which in the Central India region accounts for nearly 45% of all human deaths caused by elephants.
This census confirms the elephant faces a “crisis of attrition”. Given that the Asian Elephant is listed as Endangered and in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the new data necessitates stronger enforcement and a review of the impact of infrastructure and mining projects, particularly in light of political criticism against recent amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
What is DNA-based Genetic Mark-Recapture used in the elephant census? → DNA-based Genetic Mark-Recapture is a non-invasive census technique that uses unique genetic signatures extracted from elephant dung samples to identify individual animals, much like a genetic fingerprint. By sampling droppings across large landscapes and statistically tracking the ratio of identified (marked) individuals across repeated samples, researchers can generate a statistically robust and reliable estimate of the total population, setting a higher scientific standard than previous visual counts.
Follow the full report here: https://wii.gov.in/news/status_of_elephants_in_india_202_2025