SHILLONG: The state has 1811 wild elephants according to a survey conducted in 2008.
This was informed by Minister In-charge Environment and Forest Prestone Tynsong while replying to a question by NPP MLA James Sangma in the State Assembly on Thursday.
However, no fresh survey has been conducted since 2008.
Referring to man-elephant conflict, Tynsong said some long-term measures such as declaration of elephant reserves, constitution of community reserves have been taken to resolve this problem. “Some short-term measures such as setting up of voluntary protection squads and creation of awareness among the locals have also been undertaken by the department in this regard,” he added. The Minister also informed that the State Government has already identified a number of elephant corridors.
According to the assessment conducted by Forest Survey of India, total forest cover, which was 17275 sq km in 2011, had increased to 17288 in 2013, the Minister added.
