10 greatest conservation success stories from India, from Gir Lions to Sarus cranes

The 2022 One-Horned Rhino census shows that their numbers have increased to 2,613 in Kaziranga National Park. (Photo credit: Indrani Pal via Wikimedia Commons)

This Earth Day (April 22, 2023), Rajasthan gained three new conservation reserves - Sorsan in Baran, Hamirgarh in Bhilwara and Khichan in Jodhpur. The grasslands in Sorsan have been the preferred habitat of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, while Khichan is a winter home of the migratory demoiselle crane. Both areas, and their avian residents, have been facing several threats for years now, and wildlife activists and conservationists have been demanding that they be protected. The latest additions take the number of conservation reserves in the state to 26, and in the country to about 110.

Also read: Earth Day 2023: Why summer air pollution is the new normal in India

It also isn’t the first such effort. Over the years, some amazing conservation projects have been initiated to preserve wildlife and have seen significant success in terms of recovery and increasing populations. Here are 10 remarkable ones:

1. Project Tiger

It’s a project that has put India on the global map in terms of species conservation. Kicked off in 1973, it was initiated with the focus to save the tiger, which was facing extinction at the time. Over the years, under the project, protections to the big cat have been strengthened, forests where they reside have been preserved and even expanded, locals have been sensitized towards them, and poaching and illegal trade of the species and their body parts have been banned. Today, the country is home to over 70 percent of the global wild tiger population and their numbers stand at 3,167.

India marked 50 years of Project Tiger on April 1, 2023. (Photo credit: David V. Raju via Wikimedia Commons)

2. Project Elephant

In 1992, the government of India introduced Project Elephant with the goals to safeguard elephants, their habitat and migration routes, address problems of animal-human conflict, and ensure elephant welfare in captivity. It continues to be carried out in major elephant free range states. Thirty-one elephant reserves have also been established in the country to ensure the long-term survival of the endangered mammal. Today, more than 60 percent of wild Asian elephants can be found in India, with the 2017 census recording their population as 29,964.

India is home to 29,964 Asian elephants in the wild, as of 2017. (Photo credit: WWF India and NCF via Wikimedia Commons)

3. Barasingha, Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh

Once on the brink of extinction, the hard ground swamp deer (barasingha) has seen a revival at this famous tiger reserve. Rampant hunting, habitat loss and diseases had taken a toll on their numbers, which reduced to 66 in 1967. To help their population rebound, a host of conservation practices, including habitat improvement and captive breeding, began at the park. Now, it is estimated that over 1,000 barasingha roam free at Kanha. To further safeguard the species, 19 barasingha were also released into Bandhavgarh in March this year.

There are around 1,000 barasingha deer in Kanha National Park, up from to 66 in 1967. (Photo credit: Kandukuru Nagarjun via Wikimedia Commons)

4. Indian bison, Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh

The gaur (Indian bison) had disappeared from these forests in 1995. The species was reintroduced in 2011, after the Central government granted permission for translocation of bison from Kanha to Bandhavgarh. In January 2011, 19 bison were brought here. The reintroduced gaurs were monitored via ground tracking and satellite GPS fixes. Today, a stable population of the gaur resides within the park.

5. One-horned rhino, Kaziranga National Park, Assam

As per the WWF, the “recovery of the greater one-horned rhino is among the greatest conservation success stories in Asia”. Kaziranga has played a major role in its comeback. Poaching, habitat loss and annual floods had decimated the rhino numbers in the state. To counter it, in 2019, the Special Rhino Protection Force was constituted to stem poaching at Kaziranga National Park. Rhino habitats have also been restored and a census is carried out every three years to keep track of their numbers.

It has shown results. The 2022 census shows their numbers have increased to 2,613 in the park, and the year also saw no poaching incident in the state of Assam. Its steady population has prompted the IUCN to, over time, downgrade its status from endangered to vulnerable.

6. Olive ridley turtle, Rushikulya, Odisha

They are the most abundant of all sea turtles in the world. Their numbers, however, are on the decline and they are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. One reason is that very few of their nesting sites remain in the world. It’s what makes Odisha’s efforts towards their conservation critical. Three of the world’s six known major mass nesting beaches are here - at Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth and Rushikulya.

To protect the species, a fishing ban is enforced for seven months in the sea corridor they use so that they don't get entangled in fishing nets or come under the propellers of trawlers. Human activity on the beaches where they nest is also restricted. It has helped. About 6.37 lakh olive ridley turtles have arrived for mass nesting at Rushikulya coast just this year, setting a new record for the beach in the Ganjam district.

7. Amur falcons, Manipur and Nagaland

The start of the winter season brings the Amur falcon from Mongolia to northeast India in large numbers. The falcons travel 20,000-30,000 kms every year, making them the world’s longest travelling migratory birds. Despite being protected under both the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Convention of Migratory Species, the Amur falcon used to be poached for consumption and trade every year.

To counter it, penalties such as three years of imprisonment and steep fines have now been imposed for hunting, killing or selling the bird. A satellite tagging project developed by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Manipur forest department was also initiated in 2013 to further boost conservation efforts. It has resulted in Amur falcons returning Manipur and Nagaland, which have once again become safe bases for them.

8. Sarus crane, east Uttar Pradesh

In 2013, a survey by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) showed there were about 700 sarus cranes in 10 districts of east Uttar Pradesh. Their population was dwindling due to electrocution by power supply lines, attacks by free ranging dogs, and food poisoning due to the consumption of pesticides that farmers used on their farms and neighbouring wetlands.
Local communities, the Uttar Pradesh forest department and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra slowly banded together to improve their habitat, provide protections to wetlands and their nests, and shift to organic farming to save the state bird. Today, these districts alone are home to more than 2,500 birds, while their numbers have risen to 19,180 in the state, as per the 2022 census.

Sarus cranes in Uttar Pradesh (Photo credit: Charles J Sharp via Wikimedia Commons)

9. Lion, Gir National Park, Gujarat

In 1913, their numbers had dropped to a mere 20. Hunting and encroachment led to their population shrinking. While efforts to save the lion started before Independence, it was in 1965 that the Indian Forest Service stepped in and set up a wildlife conservation programme. It made Gir a wildlife sanctuary. The participation of locals and the elaborate rescue operation by the forest department has meant that today, the Asiatic lion not only survives but thrives in the wild. As per the last census in 2020, 674 big cats now roam free in the park, making this conservation programme a roaring success.

While efforts to save the lion started before Independence, it was in 1965 that the Indian Forest Service stepped in and set up a wildlife conservation programme. (Photo credit: Sumeet Moghe via Wikimedia Commons)

10. Gharial, Gandak river, Bihar

The fish-eating gharial was close to extinction in the Gandak, which is a transnational river between India and Nepal and a tributary of the Ganga. Sand bank erosion and hunting had depleted their numbers. It took the joint efforts of the local fishing community, conservation experts and administration to reverse the trend and save the critically endangered species.

In 2014, the WTI and Bihar Forest Department jointly started the gharial reinforcement project in the Gandak. Captive born and reared gharials were released into the river. Nests were also protected with the help of locals. As a result, three surveys conducted between 2017 and 2018, show around 211 gharials of different age-groups being present in the river as compared to merely 15 recorded in 2010.