Elephant Reserves in India [2024]

Elephant reserves are dedicated protected habitats for endangered Indian elephants, established to mitigate human-elephant conflict. The first elephant reserve was set up in 2002, known as the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve in Jharkhand.

As of 2024, India has 33 elephant reserves across 14 states, spanning about 65,000 sq km. Major reserves are in Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu.

Features of Elephant Reserves

• Each Elephant reserve has core zone and buffer zone. Core zones strictly protect elephant habitats and movement corridors. Multiple buffer zones regulate development activities around core areas.
• Elephant reserves safeguard local ecosystems that elephant impact significantly as keystone species and ecosystem engineers.
• They aim to maintain habitat connectivity between protected areas and address fragmentation threats to migratory elephant populations.
• Dedicated Elephant Protection Forces personnel are deployed for protection and conflict mitigation activities.

List of Elephant Reserves