Dr. Chanchal Kumar Sar manages the research and field programs on Asian elephants located in Odisha and its bordering states. He currently oversees a joint program between the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of Odisha and ANCF to “assess the carrying capacity of the major elephant habitat landscapes with a view towards furthering elephant conservation measures in Odishastate”.
Chancal Sar completed his PhD in ecology from Meerut University in 1992 following a MSc Zoology and a post graduate diploma in ecology and environment. After an early intern stint in 1984 with Species Survival Commission, Asian Elephant Specialists Group (IUCN, North –Eastern Indian Task Force, he spent several subsequent years of his research study in aquaculture and limnology, the first of his two areas of specialization. He worked on several ICAR research projects and later joined the private freshwater aquaculture industry for four years.
In 1997 Dr. CK Sar refocused his attention to the Asian elephant under Dr. DK Lahiri Choudhury an eminent elephant specialist and later worked with Prof. Raman Sukumar, a leading authority on the Asian elephant at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Since then he has focussed his attention in the area of wildlife management of the central - eastern population of the Asian elephants in Odisha, Bengal and surrounding states. He specialises in habitat assessment studies of elephant reserves and forests, elephant corridor studies especially in relation with EIA assessments of heavy industry and mines and animal-human conflict mitigation. He is also well versed in liaising on elephant issues with state forest ministries and departments in the central -eastern Indian sector. Dr. CK Sar has 26 research papers / abstracts and 23 Technical reports / books to his credit.