Chennai, Aug 3 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, on Saturday, said that the elephant population in the state has increased by 100 compared to last year.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said that in the elephant census report of 2023, the number of elephants in the forests of Tamil Nadu was 2,971 while in 2024, the number of wild elephants were 3,063.

The three-day synchronised elephant census comprising of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh was conducted on May 23,24 and 25.

The statement said that in Tamil Nadu, the population of elephants was conducted in 681 blocks spread across 26 forest divisions. According to Tamil Nadu Forest Department, 8,652 sq km of forest land was covered on foot during the three-day census.

The three-day census had the participation of 2,178 forest personnel including forest watchers, guards, rangers and volunteers drawn from wildlife NGOs.

The Sathyamangalam forest division has the highest number of elephants at 372, followed by Coimbatore forest division with 336 elephants.

The synchronised census revealed that 40 per cent of the elephants are adults while 33 per cent are sub-adults. There are 17 per cent juveniles and 10 per cent of the elephants are calves.

As per the synchronised census held previously in 2017 involving the four states, the number of elephants in the forests of Tamil Nadu was 2,761. During this census conducted in 699 blocks across 25 forest divisions in the Tamil Nadu side, it was found that the number of elephants has increased to 2,971.