India’s population of elephants is moving toward extinction because of widespread poaching, loss of habitat, and brutal training methods, according to Maneka Gandhi, the nation’s Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and also head of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She said there are fewer than 800 adult male elephants left in the nation. Iqbal Malik, a leading animal rights activist, said India is losing 10 percent of its population of adult males every year to poachers who kill them for their tusks. In other news from India, the nation’s environment minister, T.R. Baalu, pledged yesterday that the government will do more to protect mangrove forests, conserve soil and water, and treat hazardous waste.
