The number of wild elephants in north Bengal is now 676, up by 188 from 488 in 2017, according to the latest nationwide elephant status report released by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in November this year.
The nationwide elephant census was conducted by WII from 2021 to March 2025. For the first time in the country, DNA analysis on dung samples collected from protected forests was done, thereby providing a more accurate population estimate for the country’s elephant habitats.
In addition to it, elephant census teams undertook extensive on-foot tracking, ground surveys and direct elephant observation.
Between 2017 and 2021, no census was done. Hence, the elephant population of 2017 was treated as the baseline for the latest survey.
In Bengal, teams covered a total area of 4,011 sqkm, of which 1,203 sqkm was surveyed on foot.
“This area was divided into 2,174 dung-plot units for systematic sampling. Observations were conducted both during the day and night,” said a source.
The previous elephant census in 2017 was done on the basis of visual counts and dung samples. That census reported 488 elephants in north Bengal and 194 in south Bengal. No DNA-based survey was done then.
On 188 elephants more in north Bengal since the last census, Dwijapratim Sen, the divisional forest officer of the Gorumara wildlife division, said it was natural.
“An increase in elephant numbers is natural. But when elephants enter human settlements, we often do not receive community cooperation to guide them back to forests. Given our geography and the rise in elephant population, this situation is likely to continue,” he said.
In its elephant status report, WII has expressed serious concern over the condition of elephant habitats and corridors in north Bengal and the Northeast, which share borders with countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
“The report states that widespread encroachment, infrastructure expansion and construction activities have disrupted traditional elephant movement paths. As a result, herds are increasingly splitting into smaller groups and often entering human settlements, leading to a rise in human-elephant conflicts,” said a source.
It highlights that the expansion of farmland, mushrooming human settlements and tea estates in the forest fringe areas of north Bengal have significantly squeezed elephant habitats.
Infrastructural projects like NH31, 715 and 717, along with four-lane expressways near forests, have further fragmented elephant movement routes.
“Although herds of 30–40 elephants are still seen occasionally, they often split into two or three groups due to shrinking corridors,” the source added.
The findings have made wildlife conservationists repeat the demand to restore elephant corridors.
“To stop human-elephant conflict and for better conservation of elephants, restoration of the corridors is essential,” said Shyamaprasad Pande, a wildlife conservationist based in the Dooars.
Joydeep Kundu, a member of the state board for wildlife, said elephants were natural wanderers, moving in herds across large landscapes.
“The Bengal forest department, along with tea estates and the district administration, has initiated the restoration of several old elephant corridors in the Dooars,” he said.