"Supreme Court directs nationwide survey to protect elephant corridor free passage"
Elephant Corridor
a strip of land connecting fragmented forest blocks enabling elephant movement between habitats
Schedule I (WPA 1972)
highest wildlife protection category; hunting or harassment is a cognisable, non-bailable offence
India hosts the world's largest population of Asian elephants, and their survival depends critically on the ability to move across large landscapes. Elephant corridors — narrow strips of land connecting fragmented forest blocks — enable herds to migrate between habitats for feeding, breeding, and genetic exchange. Without functional corridors, isolated populations face inbreeding depression, resource depletion, and intensified human-wildlife conflict. India's elephant range spans multiple States, meaning no single State's administrative boundary coincides with the ecological range of a herd.
The primary legal instrument governing wildlife protection in India is the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which classifies species into six Schedules based on the degree of protection warranted. Elephants are listed under Schedule I, the highest protection category, conferring absolute legal protection — hunting, capture, or harassment is a cognisable, non-bailable offence. The Act also provides for the declaration of Protected Areas: National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves. Complementing this, the Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises the rights of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers over forest land, including the concept of Critical Wildlife Habitat — areas within Protected Areas required to be kept inviolate for conservation.
The Supreme Court's conservation jurisprudence has progressively strengthened the legal standing of wildlife corridors. In the landmark Segur corridor litigation, the Court upheld the Madras High Court's ruling that the Tamil Nadu government was empowered to notify the elephant corridor in the Nilgiris district, and affirmed that private land transactions within the corridor by resort owners were null and void under the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949. The Court also invoked the public trust doctrine — the principle that the State holds natural resources in trust for the public and cannot alienate them for private commercial gain.
An elephant corridor functions as an ecological lifeline. Elephants are landscape-level species requiring vast home ranges; a single herd may traverse hundreds of kilometres seasonally. When corridors are blocked — by encroachments, fencing, roads, or human settlements — herds are forced into agricultural land, triggering crop raids and retaliatory violence. The Wildlife Institute of India has identified 101 elephant corridors across India, of which a significant proportion face varying degrees of obstruction.
The legal protection of corridors operates at multiple levels. At the species level, Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 prohibits any act that disturbs, injures, or kills an elephant. At the habitat level, the Act empowers the Central and State governments to declare Protected Areas and regulate activities within them. The Project Elephant scheme, launched in 1992, provides financial and technical support to States for elephant conservation, including corridor management. …
With reference to Indian elephants, consider the following statements:
1.The leader of an elephant group is a female.
2.The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
3.An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
4.Among the States in India, the highest elephant population is in Kerala.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements:
1.Animal Welfare Board of India is established under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
2.National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body.
3.National Ganga River Basin Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142. It could mean which one of the following?
With reference to elephant corridors in India, consider the following statements:
1.Elephants are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
2.The Wildlife Institute of India has identified 101 elephant corridors across India.
3.Project Elephant was launched in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
4.Protection of wild animals and birds is a subject exclusively in the Union List of the Seventh Schedule.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding the public trust doctrine in Indian environmental law:
Statement-I: The public trust doctrine holds that the State holds certain natural resources in trust for the public and cannot alienate them for private commercial gain.
Statement-II: The public trust doctrine is explicitly codified in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Which of the following correctly describes the constitutional basis for the Supreme Court's power to direct the Union government to conduct a nationwide survey of elephant corridors across multiple States?
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