Guwahati, Oct 14: Meghalaya, known for its hill communities and rich natural heritage, supports 677 wild elephants, making it home to the second-largest elephant population in Northeast India, after Assam, according to the Status of Elephants in India: DNA-Based Synchronous All India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE 2021–2025) report.

The nationwide estimation — conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) under Project Elephant — marks a milestone in wildlife monitoring. Using DNA-based mark–recapture techniques for the first time, scientists identified individual elephants from dung samples collected across India. The report notes that this genetic approach offers a far more accurate population estimate than traditional dung counts, establishing a new scientific baseline for elephant conservation.

“Known for its hill communities and rich natural heritage, Meghalaya has a forest cover of 76% (ISFR 2021) and supports the second-largest elephant population in the region, estimated at 677 (SE 47). Elephants are mainly found in the Garo Hills, Khasi Hills, and to a lesser extent in the southern Jaintia Hills, with the South Garo Hills hosting the largest share,” the report states.

It adds that Meghalaya’s landscape is largely a plateau with narrow plains along its borders. Major forest types include subtropical pine, tropical wet evergreen, and moist deciduous forests. The Garo Hills Elephant Reserve, the state’s only notified elephant reserve, shares an international boundary with Bangladesh, where elephants frequently migrate across forest corridors.

Nationally, India’s wild elephant population stands at 22,446 (range: 18,255–26,645), with Karnataka (6,013), Assam (4,159), and Kerala (2,785) recording the highest numbers. In the Northeast, the North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains collectively support 6,559 elephants, underscoring the region’s crucial role in sustaining India’s remaining wild herds.

The report also warns of growing threats to elephant habitats in the region. “Northeast India, bordering five countries, has seen extensive infrastructure development, deforestation for agriculture and plantations, and fossil resource extraction, disrupting habitat and connectivity,” it notes.

Human–elephant conflict (HEC) remains severe across the region. Assam alone recorded 875 human and 825 elephant deaths between 2010 and 2020, while conflict-related crop loss and property damage continue to rise. Most incidents occur outside protected areas, where elephants are increasingly forced into human landscapes due to habitat shrinkage.

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