1 month ago
1
The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, nether the directions of the Central government, has launched DNA profiling of astir 20 captive elephants — including six kumkis (trained elephants) — successful Chittoor district, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), and the Zoo Parks successful Tirupati and Visakhapatnam, with the purpose of improving their semipermanent wellness attraction and technological management.
District Forest Officer (Chittoor) G. Subburaj told The Hindu that arsenic portion of a nation-wide initiative, humor samples from six trained elephants, housed successful Kuppam and Palamaner camps, person been collected and sent to the Wildlife Institute of India successful Dehradun for a elaborate familial analysis. He said that the workout is portion of a wider effort nether Project Elephant to bring precocious technological methods into elephant conservation and management.
“The DNA profiling volition assistance authorities make unsocial familial records of each elephant. The investigation tin grounds invaluable accusation connected age, immunity levels, inherited traits, and imaginable wellness risks, helping veterinarians program amended attraction and semipermanent attraction for the elephants,” the wood authoritative said.
Mr. Subburaj observed that the improvement comes astatine a clip erstwhile India is progressively relying connected familial subject for wildlife conservation. The All India Synchronised Elephant Estimation–2023, country’s archetypal DNA-based elephant colonisation survey, utilized precocious familial sampling techniques and technological modelling to estimation elephant numbers much accurately crossed large landscapes.
Of the six trained elephants housed successful Chittoor territory to transportation retired kumki operations successful and astir the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary, 4 were brought from Karnataka to assistance negociate human-elephant conflict, portion 2 are trained successful Kuppam. “The usage of DNA exertion volition fortify monitoring systems, amended elephant welfare, and enactment aboriginal conservation readying successful the State,” the DFO said.
