AUG 11: The World Elephant Day 2025 celebrations will take place on August 12 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, led by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav. Organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, the event will reaffirm India’s commitment to the protection of elephants and highlight strategies for their long-term conservation.
India is home to nearly 60% of the world’s wild elephant population, supported by 33 Elephant Reserves and 150 identified corridors, as documented in the 2023 Elephant Corridors Report. Recognised as the National Heritage Animal, elephants hold deep cultural and ecological significance in India, which has emerged as a global leader in harmonising wildlife conservation with human development.
Tamil Nadu plays a pivotal role in sustaining elephant populations and mitigating human-elephant conflicts (HEC). The Coimbatore event will bring together foresters, policymakers, conservationists, and civil society representatives to exchange best practices in conservation and conflict resolution.
A key feature of the celebration will be a special workshop on Human-Elephant Conflict, offering a platform for elephant range states to share challenges and effective mitigation strategies. With incidents of elephants entering human settlements on the rise, discussions will focus on habitat management, corridor connectivity, awareness initiatives, and community participation, aligning with the goals of Project Elephant.
The inauguration will also see the participation of Union MoS Shri Kriti Vardhan Singh, Tamil Nadu Minister for Forests and Khadi Thiru R. S. Rajakannappan, senior officials from multiple states, and experts from the Ministry of Railways.
In a massive outreach effort, around 12 lakh students from 5,000 schools across the country will join awareness campaigns, reinforcing public commitment to elephant conservation and fostering a culture of coexistence between humans and wildlife.
