India, Oct. 27 -- In a recently released elephant population estimation, scientists have used DNA-based genetic mark-recapture techniques to peg India's elephant population at 22,446. This is the same method used for estimating the country's tiger population.

Scientists emphasise that the new figures are not comparable with past estimates given the methodological shift. "The concern around an apparent 18% decline from the 2017 count of 27,312 elephants is not valid, as the earlier estimates were counts based on physical identifiers and an entirely different approach," says Qamar Qureishi, who led the study with a team of scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The new estimate of 22,446, with the true number estimated to be ...