Man-elephant conflict taking a big toll

Elephant are the cultural icon of India. But the human-elephant conflicts is becoming a major concern as the toll taken by it is on the increase. Human-elephant conflicts resulted in 2,853 human deaths during the past five years, with the number of fatalities reaching a five-year high of 628 in 2023. The state of Odisha accounted for 624 of such death, the highest in the country, followed by Jharkhand with 474, West Bengal with 436, Assam with 383, Chhattisgarh with 303, Tamil Nadu with 256, Karnataka with 160 and Kerala with 124.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said “elephants caused” 587 human deaths in 2019, 471 in 2020, 557 in 2021, 610 in 2022 and 628 in 2023. Between 2014 and 2019, over 2,300 people were killed by elephants. On average, around 500 people and 100 elephants die each year due to the man – animal conflict. The use of electric and solar-powered fences, as well as elephant-proof trenches are being resorted to for preventing elephants from entering human settlements.
These measures are part of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Project Elephant,’ which aims to reduce human-elephant face off and protect both humans and elephants. Elephants can live up to 60-70 years in the wild. In India, the Asian elephant was once widely distributed throughout the country, including in states like Punjab and Gujarat. Currently, they are found in four fragmented populations in the south, north, central and northeast India.
The minister said the management of wildlife habitats was primarily the responsibility of state governments and Union Territory administrations and that the central government provided financial and technical support under the centrally sponsored Project Tiger & Elephant scheme for the protection of animals, their habitats and corridors, addressing human-animal conflict, and for the welfare of captive elephants.
In February 2021, the ministry issued an advisory on dealing with human-wildlife conflict, recommending coordinated inter-departmental action, identification of conflict hotspots, adherence to standard operating procedures, and establishment of rapid response teams. In June the following year, the environment ministry issued guidelines to states and Union Territories on managing human-wildlife conflicts, including damage to crops.
Cultivation of crops that are unpalatable to wild animals, and the use of agroforestry models incorporating cash crops such as chilies, lemongrass, and Khus grass, mixed with tree and shrub species has been recommended for the forest fringe areas.