Indian Elephants: Matriarchal Herds and the 22-Month Gestation

Think of a big joint family on a long trip. The grandmother knows the roads, the wells and the dangers. Everyone follows her. An elephant herd works the same way.

• An Indian elephant herd is led by a matriarch.
• She is usually the oldest and most experienced female.
• The herd is mostly related females and their young: mothers, daughters, sisters and calves.
• Young males leave the herd as they grow up.
• Adult males live alone or in small bachelor groups.

Why her memory matters

• The matriarch remembers where water and food can be found.
• She also remembers safe routes and past dangers.
• In a dry year, that memory can save the whole herd.
• If poachers or conflict kill an old matriarch, the herd loses that knowledge.

• An elephant pregnancy can last up to 22 months.
• That is the longest of any land mammal. A human pregnancy is about 9 months.
• A big brain and body take a long time to grow.
• A cow usually has one calf at a time, a few years apart.
• Female elephants do not stop calving at 40. They can keep breeding well past that age.

Here is the catch. Elephants breed slowly. So when their numbers fall, they take a long time to recover.

Counting elephants by sight is hard. Herds move, and the same animal can be counted twice. So India tried a new method.

• The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) ran the Synchronous All India Elephant Estimation, 2021–25.
• Teams collected about 21,000 dung samples.
• DNA from the dung identified individual elephants, like a fingerprint.
• A mark-recapture model then estimated the total. Tiger counts use the same idea.
• The result was about 22,446 wild elephants.
• The real number likely lies between about 18,255 and 26,645.

Is that a fall from 2017?

• The 2017 count was 27,312.
• But the scientists say the two numbers cannot be compared.
• The old count used sightings. The new one uses DNA.
• So 22,446 is a fresh baseline for future counts.

(Source: Mongabay India)

Elephants need huge areas to find food and water. Their forests are often broken into patches by farms, roads and railways. A corridor is the thin bridge of land between two patches.

• The Elephant Corridors of India report was released on World Elephant Day, 12 August 2023.
• It ground-checked 150 elephant corridors across 15 States.
• Project Elephant prepared it with State forest departments. (PIB)
• Project Elephant itself began in 1992.
• India has 33 Elephant Reserves in 14 major elephant States. (PIB)

Why blocked corridors cause trouble

• When a corridor is blocked, herds do not simply stop.
• They walk into fields and villages instead.
• Crops get raided, and people and elephants both get hurt.
• So a corridor protects people as well as elephants.

No State can block elephant paths (17 August 2026)

• A three-judge Bench heard the case. It was led by Chief Justice Surya Kant.
• The Court said no State can block elephant corridors.
• Herds cross many States, so one State cannot cut off their old routes.
• It told the Centre to run a fresh nationwide survey of corridors.
• The Centre must file a report on steps taken to clear blockages.

Fireballs and spikes

• In 2018, the Court had banned using fireballs, burning rods and spikes to chase elephants.
• The plea said fireballs were still thrown at elephants in West Bengal.
• The Court asked the government to enforce the 2018 ban strictly.
• Elephants are Schedule I animals under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. That is the highest legal protection.

(Source: The Hindu)