HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT

Feb. 16, 2020

Ministry of Environment provided latest data in the Rajya Sabha on the Human-elephant conflict in the country over the past five years, from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

Key findings:

Three States in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country — West Bengal, Odisha and Assam — account for about half of both human and elephant deaths in the overall human-elephant conflict in the country.
2,361 human deaths were recorded in elephant attacks across the country, of which 1,132 (48%) fatalities were from these three States. West Bengal had the highest number of human casualties: 403, followed by Odisha with 397, Jharkhand with 349, and Assam with 332 deaths.
When it comes to unnatural deaths of elephants (mainly due to poaching, train accidents, electrocution and poisoning), the country recorded 510 deaths in the same period (2014-15 to 2018-19). Of these, 259 (53%) occurred in these three States alone.
Among the reasons for unnatural deaths of elephants, electrocution is at the top of the list, accounting for 68% of elephant deaths in the country. Assam accounted for 66 electrocution deaths, followed by Odisha with 57 deaths and Bengal with 39 fatalities.
The second most common cause for unnatural deaths of elephants is train accidents. Between 2014-15 to 2018-19, 77 deaths were due to train accidents.