Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants(MIKE) Sites in India

Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants(MIKE)

The CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) Programme is a site-based system designed to monitor trends in the illegal killing of elephants,
build management capacity and provide information to help range States make appropriate management and enforcement decisions.

• The prime objectives of the MIKE are to measure levels and trends in the illegal poaching of elephants

• MIKE Programme was established by the CITES by Resolution 10.10 adopted at the 10TH Conference of the Parties in 1997.

CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

It is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation

• CITES was conceived in 1960s and enforced in 1975.

• Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 37,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are
traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs.

• At the core of the MIKE Programme is the site based monitoring of elephant mortality.

• When an elephant carcass is found, local site personnel try to establish and record the cause of death and other details.

• This information is recorded in standardized forms, details of which are then consolidated and submitted to the MIKE programme for analysis.

• This information enables MIKE to identify any changes in poaching pressure, and to develop both sub regional and a continent-wide picture of the extent of and trends in the illegal killing of elephants

MIKE sites

• There are around 50 MIKE sites across Africa.

• There are currently 28 sites participating in the MIKE programme in Asia, distributed across 13 countries

• India has 10 sites

• 2 sites each in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand

• 1 site each in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam

MIKE Sites in India

1- Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve

2 – Dihing Patkai Elephant Reserve

3 – Eastern Dooars Elephant Reserve

4 – Deomali Elephant Reserve

5 – Garo Hills Elephant Reserve

6 – Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve

7 – Shivalik Elephant Reserve

8 – Mysore Elephant Reserve

9 – Nilgiri Elephant Reserve

10 – Wayanad Elephant Reserve