If we save elephants, forests will prosper: Union Minister Bhupender Yadav

Union minister Bhupender Yadav has said if elephants are saved, the forests will prosper as the tuskers serve to protect them and called for steps to reduce human-elephant conflicts in the country. Elephants have been an integral part of religious and cultural traditions in India, Yadav said on Monday. Addressing an event organised in Raipur on the occasion of World Elephant Day, the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change highlighted the efforts being made by the government for pachyderm conservation through a range of participatory efforts. "In India, elephants have been a part of religious and cultural traditions. If we save elephants, the forests will prosper as elephants are actual rangers of forests and serve to protect them," he stated. Yadav stressed on the need to reduce human-elephant conflicts, a problem also prevalent in parts of Chhattisgarh, in the country. There are 33 elephant reserves and 150 corridors for the pachyderms in the country, he said. The .