Kokrajhar, March 25: There is good news for wildlife and nature enthusiasts.

The number of Asiatic elephants is on the rise in Manas National Park situated in Baksa district of Assam.

In the latest elephant census conducted in Basbari, Panbari and Bhuyapara ranges of the park, as many as 1,026 elephants were counted. Bhuyapara range topped the tally with 525 elephants being detected. Another 354 elephants were detected at Basbari range whereas 147 elephants were found at Panbari range.

The park authorities are a happy lot with the rise in the number of pachyderms in the national park.

“It is happy news for all wildlife lovers that the elephant population has increased in the park,” a senior officer said.

The official attributed the increase in the number of elephants to the return of normalcy and peaceful atmosphere inside the park.

“More and more elephants in groups are sighted regularly inside the park these days. Moreover, compared to other parts, Manas is still lush green with lots of forest cover and hills, which is ideal for elephants. There is no dearth of space for the pachyderms to roam and search for food and water in Manas and adjoining areas, which is the reason why the man-elephant conflict is less or almost negligible here,” he said.

According to wildlife experts, a large population of over 3,000 elephants was found on the northern bank of Brahmaputra, which extends from North Bengal through the Himalayan foothills of Bhutan and Northern Assam, extending across Arunachal Pradesh.

The Northeast harbours around 9,000 to 11,300 elephants in an area of nearly 41,000 square km.

The Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), despite its long complex cultural relationship with human beings, is now classified as endangered. According to the Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, there are more than 32,400 elephants in India.