The committee is expected to give a comprehensive plan, which will help manage all the issues related to elephants
THE government had set up an expert committee on `Project Elephant' a week ago to look into all is- sues pertaining to elephant popu- lation and th- reats in the coun- try, Union Minis- ter of State for E nv i r o n m e n t and Forests Jai- ram Ramesh said on Thursday.

Coimbatore: Considering the fast dwindling population of tigers across the country as well as the increasing man-animal conflicts owing to elephants in four States, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh on Thursday reiterated the need for visible and objective implementation of Project Elephant on the lines of Project Tiger.

The government has constituted a task force to provide detailed recommendations to upgrade Project Elephant and bring about a more effective conservation and management of wild as well as captive tuskers in the country. The 10-member task force will give a fresh impetus to the existing project, said officials, adding that it will submit the report by May-end.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking proper rehabilitation of a King Cobra that is under the care of the Solapur Municipal Corporation (SMC). The cobra was rescued from a monk and handed over to SMC by forest department officials in 2007. Petitioner Gururaj Pore had helped the officials to rescue the cobra.

BHUBANESWAR: With man-animal conflict assuming disturbing proportions in Orissa, Wildlife Wing has a job at hand. The ongoing elephant depredation which has triggered angry reactions in Dhenkanal is just a case in point.