Conserving Rajaji and Corbett National Parks – the elephant as a flagship species

Abstract
One of India's five major populations of elephants lives in north-west India, where 90 per cent of the total 750 elephants occur in Rajaji and Corbett National Parks and adjacent reserve forests. This 3000-sq-km habitat is also home to many other endangered species. While the 520-sq-km core area of Corbett National Park is free from human impact, the rest of the range is subject to increasing pressures, both from the pastoral Gujjar community within the forests and villagers outside. The elephant habitat has been fragmented by hydrological development work and human-elephant conflict is increasing. The authors recommend measures that need to be implemented to ensure that the elephants and other wildlife of the area are conserved.