Skip to content Skip to navigation

Football promotes Asian elephants

By Subhamoy Bhattacharjee |

With the aim of spreading awareness on the plight of Asian elephants and the need for their conservation, International Fund for Animal Welfare -Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) in collaboration with the Assam Forest Department and Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) has been organising a three-day long football tournament in Kochugaon of Bodoland in Assam. The football tournament was started on Tuesday (11th February 2014).

The “Asian Elephant Football Tournament 2014” organised by IFAW-WTI  is an attempt to strengthen the links between the Forest department –Local Community-NGOs –Media, along with other like minded organisations and individuals to save the Asian elephants of  Ripu-Chirang Elephant Reserve of BTC.

The tournament is played among 12 teams from different fringe villages of Manas National Park, a team representing the National Park, members of the Wildlife Division of Kokrajhar along with personnel from the media come together to take part in this football tournament, especially curated to promote appreciation and conservation of Asian elephants in the landscape. A signature campaign for securing the wildlife in the region along with cultural activities is also a part of the conservation initiative, simultaneously running with the tournament. 

According to Sabharam Basumatary EM, BTC, "It is good to be a part of Asian Elephant Football Tournament Awareness campaign with IFAW-WTI. Each one of us should help to spread the message of wildlife conservation to the upcoming generation.  Elephants are very significant species that play important roles in the ecosystems in Wildlife. It is our responsibility to save these majestic animals that are fighting for their survival in Assam and rest of the country.”

IFAW-WTI has been working in the Greater Manas landscape for the past 8 years with the BTC and Assam Forest Department involving the local authorities. One of the primary activities of IFAW-WTI is to help spread awareness amongst the locals on key issues related to the conservation of endangered species like the elephants.

“Poaching along with degradation of habitat and other anthropogenic pressures has left these pachyderms more vulnerable than before to extinction and it becomes vital to involve all communities. Conservation simply cannot happen without their support, especially in a landscape like Manas which has been fraught with civil disturbances for a few decades now”, said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head of Assam for WTI.

M C Brahma, DFO (Wildlife Division) along with Prabhat Basumatary, ACF and S. Kundu, Range Officer of Kachugaon were also present at the inaugural ceremony along with other well-wishers and nature lovers.

With approximately 25000 elephants left in India and only an estimated 5600 elephants in Assam, the need to help save this species is greater than ever.

Author info

Subhamoy Bhattacharjee's picture

Add new comment

Random Stories

Naked protesters in Dispur

8 Feb 2014 - 12:42pm | AT News
A KMSS-sponsored protest against the alleged horse trading in the recent Rajya Sabha polls touched down a new low when six activists of the organization staged a naked dharna in Dispur on Saturday....

Tiger terror in Guwahati; leopard captured

8 Jan 2012 - 4:15am | editor
Four persons have been injured when a fully grown leopard attacked them after storming into a residential area in Guwahati on Saturday. The leopard ran into a house on the Nabagraha Road in...

Acharya stresses peace through sports

25 Oct 2015 - 6:45am | AT News Dimapur
The Village sports meet in Nagaland concluded on Saturday after Governor P B Acharya stressed peaceful co-existence through games and sports.In his speech as the chief guest during the closing...

I-Day celebrated at Kalaigaon and Tangla

16 Aug 2015 - 8:35am | Jayanta Kumar Das
The 69 th Independence Day was celebrated at Kalaigaon and Tangla with gaiety. At Kalaigaon DN Hazarika,Circle Officer,Kalaigaon Revenue Circle hoisted the national flag at Gandhi Bakori field before...

Other Contents by Author

Relocated rhino gives birth to calf

‘Jamuna’, a female rhino that had been rehabilitated into the wild by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Assam Forest Department in 2010, has given birth to her second calf in Manas National Park, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, on Sunday morning. The calf was first seen by frontline forest staff of the Bansbari Range during their early morning patrol. Its presence was later confirmed by a field team of IFAW-WTI’s Greater Manas Conservation Project, comprising Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, WTI's Head Veterinarian (North East) and the project-in-charge, and animal keeper Debajit Saikia. “This is the sixth calf born to the rhinos rehabilitated...

Growing Wild: the rescued rhino calves

It’s been a year since Kaziranga National Park was inundated by the worst floods to have hit Assam in over a decade. Among the 100-plus wild animal emergencies that CWRC (the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation: the wildlife rescue, treatment and rehabilitation centre run by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Assam Forest Department near Kaziranga) and its Mobile Veterinary Service units attended during the floods last year, were eight orphaned rhino calves that were rescued and brought to the centre to be hand-raised. The simultaneous long-term care of eight rhinos has been a massive challenge for the team at CWRC. In...

Elephant specialists to meet on Nov 10-12

A convention of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG), the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Species Survival Commission’s voluntary group of experts for the management and conservation of Asia's elephants, will get underway at Guwahati on November 10-12. The three-day convention will be attended by representatives of 11 Asian elephant range countries as well as presenters and observers from ‘non-elephant’ countries like the United Kingdom and United States of America.

Dr Borah stresses literature’s unifying role

Dr Dhrubajyoti Borah, President, Asam Sahitya Sabha, released the Poetry special issue of Eka Ebong Koekjan, the foremost Bengali literary journal from North East, before an august gathering of writers and intellectuals at Karmasree Hiteswar Saikia Auditorium, Pandu on Sunday. Dr Borah lauded Eka Ebong Koekjan for its untiring efforts through 37 long years to disseminate the richness and diversity of the literature of Assam and the North East to the greater Bengali diaspora. He said that literature has a unifying and harmonising role to play in building up a greater Assamese society incorporating diverse linguistic and ethnic groups in its fold. He defined ‘Asomiya’ as one who is...

107 Wild rescue cases in Kaziranga Flood

Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) units of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) – the wildlife rescue, care and rehabilitation facility jointly run by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Assam Forest Department (AFD) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – have attended 107 wildlife rescue cases in the ongoing flood crisis in Kaziranga National Park as of August 1. Kaziranga, one of India’s UNESCO world heritage sites, has faced a major wildlife crisis this year due to what are being described as the worst floods in a decade. As large areas of the park are inundated in the annual monsoon floods, wild animals seek higher ground across National Highway 37...

Forests Minister visited CWRC

Pramila Rani Brahma, Environment and Forests minister of newly formed Assam government visited Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), the wildlife care facility jointly run by Assam Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) as part of her two-days visit to Kaziranga National Park on Thursday.

A Royal Couple, Orphaned Animals and a Painted Elephant

Their Royal Highnesses William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, this afternoon visited IFAW-WTI’s Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park, Assam. CWRC, run by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with support from the Assam Forest Department, is the only facility in India where orphaned and/or injured wild animals of several species are hand-raised and/or treated and subsequently returned to the wild. As of March 2016 the Centre had handled 4,322 animal cases, with 2,465 being released back to the wild – a rehabilitation rate of nearly 60 percent. Their Royal Highnesses...

Conservationist Ashok Kumar honoured

Ashok Kumar, Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) was honoured with the Sanctuary Legend Award at the prestigious Earth Heroes event held at NTPA auditorium in Mumbai today. The Legend Award is a new honour started by Sanctuary this year. With a career in wildlife spanning over five decades Ashok Kumar’s contribution to conservation is immeasurable. A pioneer in many ways, he has a strong hand in ensuring that Sansar Chand, the most dangerous wildlife trader ever to have operated in India, stayed behind bars. He set up TRAFFIC in India and conducted a milestone seizure of tiger derivatives during his tenure there. At a time when nobody spoke about seeking...

Arunachal youth talks on asiatic black bear conservation

In a first of its kind sensitization programme on Asiatic black bears, 14 youth from Shergaon - a small but important area in Arunachal Pradesh – were taken on an exposure visit to IFAW-WTI run Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) in Pakke Tiger Reserve. At CBRC, the visitors were briefed about the importance and need for conservation of wildlife and bio-diversity in Arunachal Pradesh. Shergaon falls in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and the residents are predominantly Sherdukpten, a tribe Buddhist by religion. To effectively spread the message of wildlife conservation among the villagers of Shergaon, IFAW-WTI partnered with a local NGO named Garung Thuk....

Wanted wildlife trader arrested

In a covert operation assisted by WTI, Hari Singh and Munni, husband and wife, were apprehended in Gwalior and 27.5 kgs of pangolin scales were seized from them. It is a huge development in busting the pangolin trade racket since they are a crucial link to the trade that has been flourishing for the last few years. Madhya Pradesh Forest Department (MPFD) in co-operation with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) was able to apprehend the accused after a regular and steady surveillance using phone and modern tracking devices. Pangolin scales are high on demand for various reasons and the trade has been going on for several years. However, this has been the first major development in busting...