Successes in animal conservation must be viewed in the context of the larger efforts underway in India to minimize human-animal conflict, and to integrate local communities and their traditional wisdom in furthering environmental consciousness, he said.

He tweeted, ''On World Elephant Day, reiterating our commitment to protect the elephant. You would be happy to know that India houses about 60% of all Asian elephants. The number of elephant reserves has risen in the last 8 years. I also laud all those involved in protecting elephants.''

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