Kumki Elephants:
Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Karnataka signed an MoU for the deployment of trained elephants (Kumki) from Karnataka to control the elephant menace in AP.
- It Includes deploying an expert team for elephant capture, mahout training programs, knowledge transfer, SOPs for darting (tranquillising) and capturing animals, nutrition and food, and workshops and seminars.
- Karnataka has transferred 62 kumki elephants to Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and other states.
- Kumki is a term used in India to refer to trained captive Asian elephants.
- They can capture, rescue, and treat injured wild elephants, as well as to drive them away from human settlements.
- Some are trained to follow commands and aid in training other elephants.
- They participate in forest patrolling to support conservation initiatives.
- India is home to about 60% of the world’s Asian elephant population, with an estimated 27,312 individuals as per the 2017 census and 138 identified elephant corridors.
- Elephants have a gestation period of about 22 months, the longest of any land animal.
- Asian elephants (Indian) are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
