📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Frank Schulenburg
National
Madhya Pradesh seeks elephants from southern, eastern states to aid tiger reserve management
✍️ The New Indian Express
🗓 17 Sep 2026, 01:31 PM
👁 7
The state government has approached several southern and eastern Indian states to obtain elephants that can assist in patrolling and managing its tiger reserves.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has formally written to the wildlife authorities of Karnataka, Tamil Tamil Nadu, Odisha and West Bengal, seeking the loan or transfer of trained elephants for use in its tiger reserves. Officials say that the large mammals can navigate dense forest terrain more effectively than vehicles, helping rangers detect poaching activity and monitor animal movements.
According to the department, recent incidents of illegal hunting and human‑wildlife conflict have strained existing patrol resources. Deploying elephants is viewed as a low‑impact, cost‑effective measure that complements modern surveillance tools such as camera traps and drones.
State officials indicated that the request is part of a broader inter‑state collaboration on wildlife conservation, and that any transfer would be governed by existing central wildlife regulations. The initiative is expected to be operational by the end of the current fiscal year, pending approvals from the concerned states.
The move underscores Madhya Pradesh's commitment to safeguarding its flagship tiger habitats, which host a significant share of India's tiger population, while also exploring traditional conservation practices that have proven effective in other parts of the country.
According to the department, recent incidents of illegal hunting and human‑wildlife conflict have strained existing patrol resources. Deploying elephants is viewed as a low‑impact, cost‑effective measure that complements modern surveillance tools such as camera traps and drones.
State officials indicated that the request is part of a broader inter‑state collaboration on wildlife conservation, and that any transfer would be governed by existing central wildlife regulations. The initiative is expected to be operational by the end of the current fiscal year, pending approvals from the concerned states.
The move underscores Madhya Pradesh's commitment to safeguarding its flagship tiger habitats, which host a significant share of India's tiger population, while also exploring traditional conservation practices that have proven effective in other parts of the country.