Bangalore: Karnataka is now home to 6,072 Asiatic elephants, 5,945 of which were spotted in the Mysore elephant reserve (MER) alone, according to the latest elephant census.

The Karnataka Elephant Census 2012, conducted by the state forest department in May last year and carried out by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, showed an increase in the state’s elephant population since 2010 when their number stood at 5,800.