New Delhi, Sept. 22 -- Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday expressed concern over the reported decline in India's elephant population, calling the drop a critical "wake-up call" for the government.

Taking to social media platform X, Chidambaram said, "'18% fewer elephants in 9 years' is a wake-up call to the government."

The former Union Minister cited a report from The Economist referencing a survey by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which recorded an 18 per cent drop in elephant numbers compared to 2017.

"The Economist reports that 'A survey published last year by the Wildlife Institute of India counted 22,446 elephants, 18% fewer than in 2017'," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP posted.

Highli...