Man elephant conflict in assam pdf file

Man elephant conflict isnt something unheard of in assam. Train hit kills 3 elephants, including 2 pregnant females, in assam this is the second incident of wild elephants getting killed by trains in the region in recent months. Nov 29, 2016 assam s elephants at risk as man animal conflict on the rise all india written by ratandip choudhury updated. The human elephant conflict in indias tea state assam. A wild rogue elephant, which was tranquilized recently by the forest officials in assam has died due to an apparent cardiac arrest. The percentage total intact forest cover, percentage total degraded forest cover and percentage total surveyed villages claiming to experience the onset of conflict in each of the years are shown.

Mar 15, 2018 forest minister presents data on man elephant conflict in assam house. Habitat loss and humanelephant conflict in assam, india. An assessment of human elephant conflict was carried out in the fringe villages around manas national park, assam during 200506. This may not yet be as intense as it is in assam but it is a definite cause of worry, sonam wangdi, a representative from the department of forest and park services, bhutan, told the assam tribune while human fatalities resulting from the man elephant conflict have been. When people perceive wildlife as impairing their interests, the con. The objective in holding the festival is to highlight and find ways to resolve the increasing man elephant conflict.

Assams elephants at risk as mananimal conflict on the rise. Data collected by conservationists has revealed that 40 elephants have died in assam in the last 100 days. We studied the nature and extent of humanelephant interactions in the buffer zones of chitwan national park and parsa wildlife reserve in nepal, through household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews, site observations, and analysis of the reported cases of damage. It has assumed a severe character due to increasing human population. Determining correlates of humanelephant conflict reports. Jan 23, 2018 human elephant conflict in assam s tea gardens. Elephant deaths due to retaliatory killing by people have been reported by most range states asersm, 2006. Barring kaziranga and to some extent manas, no other elephant habitat in the state is undisturbed. Its true that bhutan is witnessing a man elephant conflict in some of its border areas with assam. Project elephant was launched in 1992 by the government of india ministry of environment and forests to provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts by states for their freeranging populations of wild asian elephants.

Minister pramila rani brahma informed the assembly on thursday while presenting the data on man elephant conflict. Human elephant conflict in asia 3 hec and loss of human life due to elephants. Contents 2 introduction seed of conflict clashes number of deaths indian government position. Humanelephant conflict in assams tea gardens bbc news. In assam s forests, human elephant conflict has no winners between 2006 and 2016, wild elephants have killed 785 people in the state, while 225. Altogether 70 elephants have died this year and causes vary from train accidents to poisoning and electrocution, according to the forest department. Identifying reasons of occurrence 93 hec should, therefore, no longer be treated as isolated and disconnected from national and international social and political debates. Manelephant conflict keeping assam forest dept on toes. Humanwildlife conflict refers to the interaction between wild animals and people and the resultant negative impact on people or their resources, or wild animals or their habitat. Among the early forms of humanwildlife conflict is the depredation of the ancestors of prehistoric man by a number of predators of the miocene such as sabertoothed cats, leopards, and spotted hyenas. The assam forest department data shows that a total of 245 humans and 146 elephants were killed between 2001 and 2014 in man animal conflicts on the border between assam and bhutan. It is obvious that man elephant conflict in assam is an outcome of habitat loss and food shortages of wild elephants.

Man elephant conflict searching for the reasons behind. Humanelephant conflict is one of the main threats to the longterm survival of the asian elephant elephas maximus. Assam separatist movements are insurgency movements operating in northeast indias oilrich state of assam. The humanelephant conflict in indias tea state assam. Manelephant conflict a case study from forests in west. The scenario of manelephant conflict in hoollongapar gibbon. Growers of worldfamous assam tea are encroaching into forests, fuelling a conflict between elephants and humans, locals and authorities in the indian state have said. Determining correlates of human elephant conflict reports within fringe villages of kaziranga national park, assam abstract human elephant conflict hec is a key example of the growing competition between people and wildlife for space and. According to the ministry of environment and forest, only 22 percent of the elephant habitat in india comes under the protected areas network. Elephant human conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. A persons memory of when an incident occurred may be mistaken hedges, 2007. Shrinking habitat and human elephant conflict in assam, india.

Identifying reasons of occurrence 92 movement of elephants is largely dependent on the availability of food, water and shelter. The existence of such a deforestation threshold may have important implications for landscape management in elephant range states that seek to avoid or mitigate. An assessment of humanelephant conflict in manas national. Between 2014 and 2015, casualties related to elephant attacks were the highest in west bengal state followed by assam, which recorded 54.

This is an extremely serious problem as the conflict results in. Officials blame smallscale plantations for most of the encroachment but local leaders told the bbc there was no uptodate. We analysed a 3year dataset of elephant occurrence and related instances of human elephant conflict, from two sites in assam, and explored the. The shrinking forest cover has not only escalated man animal conflict in assam, but has also resulted in increasing casualties on both sides. Conversely, the nilgiri biosphere reserve has very high elephant densities but crop loss is considered low. Jan 23, 2018 media caption elephants roam through tea gardens in assam. Forest department shifted the rogue to orang national park on november 12. According to a local wildlife activist, the primary reason behind the increase in man elephant conflict is the decline of forest cover in the areas of nambordoigrung reserved forest. Anandakumar, scientist at the nature conservation foundation, who studies man elephant conflict in india, says, conflict includes both crop damage and.

High levels of humanelephant conflict in assam are therefore unsurprising, given the significant population of elephants in a state in which there has been major forest encroachment and that has one of the countrys lowest per capita incomes. Studies on conflict between elephants and humans in asia and in africa have identified crop raiding as the main form of conflict. However, human elephant conflict remains pervasive as the majority of existing prevention strategies are driven by sitespecific factors that only offer shortterm. Interview politics over population worsening mananimal. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex interaction between humans and. India has 27,312 elephants, census shows the hindu. Between 2014 and 2015, casualties related to elephant attacks were the highest in west bengal state followed by assam, which recorded 54 deaths in that period. As per data available, the areas under the bukhial forest beat office under the golaghat forest division have seen the worst scenario of man elephant conflict in the past.

Pdf habitat loss and humanelephant conflict in assam. Growing understandings of wildlife behavior and spatiotemporal patterns of humanwildlife conflict have led to the suggestion, development. A major objective of this monograph is to identify the characteristics of manelephant conflicts in terms of land use change, cropping patterns, ecological characteristics of the fragmented dry deciduous forest, trends and patterns of elephant migration, and livelihood patterns of the inhabitants in the affected areas. Over the last 100 years, african elephant populations have declined from 35 million to 470,000690,000 and asian elephant populations have declined from 100,000 to between 35,000 and 50,000.

Conflict mitigation is a priority for the survival of asian elephants elephas maximus throughout asia. Similarly in assam, while the elephant population is decreasing, conflict is escalating. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of humanelephant. Shortage of foresters in the forest division, lack of awareness of people and lack of political will are some setbacks that has fueled the human elephant man conflict problem in the district in recent times.

This violence is back to year 1952 between bodo tribe and ethnic bengali muslim settlers. The manelephant conflict has assumed alarming proportions in assam this year, raising the hackles of conservationists and compelling the state government to take initiatives to resolve the issue. The humanelephant conflict in indias tea state assam bbc news. The elephant doctor by nabarun guha on 6 february 2020 kk sarma, a veterinarian from assam, has been honoured with the padma shri this year for his outstanding service to elephants for over three decades. The conflict started in the 1970s 5 following tension between the native indigenous assamese people and the indian government over alleged neglect, domination, subjugation, political, social, cultural, economic exploitation and internal. Its in the northeast of india and shares international borders with bhutan and bangladesh. Eight elephants died of poisoning in assam in 2018. Assams mananimal conflict threatens our existence, says. Communitybased humanelephant conflict management in assam. This may not yet be as intense as it is in assam but it is a definite cause of worry, sonam wangdi, a representative from the department of forest and park services, bhutan, told the assam tribune. Lets tune in to this beautiful story of bonding between man and animal. May 15, 2018 a 2017 survey puts northeastern indias wild elephant population at 10,9 nearly 25 percent of the total asian elephant elephas maximus stock of which 5,719 are found in assam, 1,754. The rhino foundation for nature in ne india, guwahati, india. Human elephant conflict in sonitpur district of assam it took the deaths of 22 elephants by poisoning in 2001 and 2002 to draw attention to the prevailing human elephant conflict in the north eastern state of assam.

Train hit kills 3 elephants, including 2 pregnant females. The asian elephant elephas maximus, also called asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus elephas and is distributed throughout the indian subcontinent and southeast asia, from india in the west, nepal in the north, sumatra in the south, and to borneo in the east. This short video provides a snapshot of human elephant conflict in assam. Humanelephant conflict kills 1,7 people, 373 pachyderms. Assam s elephants at risk as man animal conflict on the rise all india written by ratandip choudhury updated. The assam forest department data shows that a total of 245 humans and 146 elephants were killed between 2001 and 2014 in mananimal conflicts on the border between assam and bhutan. The 35year old bull elephant was captured, after tranquilizing, from rongjuli forest division in western assam s goalpara district on november 11. Its true that bhutan is witnessing a manelephant conflict in some of its border areas with assam. Humanelephant conflicts in northeast india assam state.

Male elephants leave their natal clan after reaching puberty and do. Pdf habitat loss and humanelephant conflict in assam, india. The available forest department conflict records since 1991 onwards were also incorporated during analysis. Interview politics over population worsening man animal conflict in assam. The immediate cause of the riots was the targeted killings of four bodo men by bangladeshi muslims. It is a documentary film produced by the department of mass communication, assam womens university under the direction of suryya kumar chetia. In the case of elephant and man we have one of the best examples known of two superficially dissimilar animals sharing common biological needs, and therefore competing vigorously whenever they contact each other. The man elephant conflict has assumed alarming proportions in assam this year, raising the hackles of conservationists and compelling the state government to take initiatives to resolve the issue. The human price of the conflict with elephants in indias tea garden state where a student was killed by an elephant on her way home from college. Dec 02, 2017 it is a documentary film produced by the department of mass communication, assam womens university under the direction of suryya kumar chetia. Train hit kills 3 elephants, including 2 pregnant females, in. All of them have been killed due to unnatural causes, with the primary reasons. Humanelephant conflict has become a threat to biodiversity conservation, and the management of such conflict is a primary goal for elephant conservation in range countries.

In order to mitigate the problem, the state forest department has taken a number of steps to create awareness among the people. Manelephant conflict escalates in golaghat the sentinel. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of human. Elephant festival and fair tour in assam north east india. In fact in most countries across the asian elephants range, it has replaced poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. Nature and extent of humanelephant elephas maximus conflict. One goal of elephants on the line is to understand and mitigate human elephant conflict in assam conflict that in 2014 led to 22 human deaths and 7 elephant deaths. Jan 11, 2019 human elephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant range countries. In assams forests, humanelephant conflict has no winners. Depredation in human settlements is another major area of humanelephant conflict. Determining correlates of human elephant conflict reports within fringe villages of kaziranga national park, assam abstract human elephant conflict hec is a key example of the growing competition between people and wildlife for space and resources throughout africa and asia. A wild elephant herd damaged more than 10 houses and a church in various places of the numaligarhmorongi area last week.

Estimates for the wild elephant population in assam vary. It occurs when growing human populations overlap with established wildlife territory, creating reduction of resources or life. Human interference in the guise of development has destroyed and fragmented wildlife habitats and blocked migration routes. Elephants of india find themselves in the hotbed of conflict. Experience the elephant festival the elephant festival of assam is organised every year at kaziranga national park in assam, jointly by the forest department and tourism department, govt.

Depredation in human settlements is another major area of human elephant conflict. Tuskers male elephants are called datals were more difficult to deter and chase from fields than. The conflict had reached such proportions around nameri national park that the elephant, that was once. Increasing trend of human elephant conflict in golaghat district, assam, india. Another tendency is that migrated elephants turn into residential elephants, which becomes a major issue in the destination habitat as it raises the issue of humanelephant conflict as well as. May 20, 2017 unabated man elephant conflict in udalguri by robertson tanti saturday, may 20, 2017 02. Man elephant conflict is a crucial problem concerning the northeastern part of india. Case study from tamil nadu 447 use of search light served as a mitigating factor to avoid elephant intrusion into the villages from the nearby forest areas. Case studies sonitpur, assam organized habitat destruction the kameng area in arunachal pradesh and sonitpur in assam. It has assumed a severe character due to increasing human.

Elephant human conflict poses a grave threat to their continued existence. Humanwildlife interactions have occurred throughout man s prehistory and recorded history. Humanelephant conflict hec is dramatically on the rise and has become one of the major issues in the fight to save asias endangered elephants. Data on human elephant conflict in previous years from 2005 to 2010 were collected from the local divisional forest offices to make comparative study on human elephant conflict in balasore and rairangpur divisions from 2005 to 2011.

In northeastern india, humanelephant conflict is getting worse as forest resources dwindle. Facts of conflict impact of cross border migration imrcusa website video hopes and strategies 2. The state was the first site for oil drilling in asia. A major objective of this monograph is to identify the characteristics of man elephant conflicts in terms of land use change, cropping patterns, ecological characteristics of the fragmented dry deciduous forest, trends and patterns of elephant migration, and livelihood patterns of the inhabitants in the affected areas. Most of these conflicts, however, occur in small forest pockets, encroachments in elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes. Kalaigaon, june 17 man elephant conflict has taken a serious turn in the district with the deaths of three persons during the last three months. The scenario of manelephant conflict in hoollongapar. In the three years between 20152018, human elephant conflict caused 1,7 human and 373 elephant deaths by unnatural causes, including electrocution and poaching.

One sultry afternoon in october 2002, a small paddy farmer who prefers not to be named in sonitpur district in the northeastern indian state of assam bought a few packets of demecron, an organophosphorusbased pesticide. Assessment and prediction of spatial patterns of human. Habitat loss and conflict with people are among the biggest threats to. In the north eastern part of india there has been a disparity between nature, economic development and fragmentation of wildlife habitats leading to intense conflicts. Unabated manelephant conflict in udalguri assam times. The scenario of man elephant conflict in hoollongapar gibbon wildlife sanctuary of assam, india sujayita bhattacharjee abstract man elephant conflict is a crucial problem concerning the northeastern part of india. Unabated manelephant conflict in udalguri by robertson tanti saturday, may 20, 2017 02. It is of utmost importance to research on the spatial patterns of humanwildlife conflicts to understand the underlying mechanism of such interactions, i.

How expanding tea plantations in indias assam state are putting humans in conflict with elephants. Largescale forest encroachment in assam, india, has led to increasing levels of human elephant conflict. In the past 10 years, 372 people have been killed by elephants in assam talukdar, 2010. A variety of management strategies have been developed and are practiced at different scales for preventing and mitigating human elephant conflict. Dec 05, 2014 chester zoos assam haathi project was established with the aim of helping people in assam live safely alongside wild elephants. May 20, 2014 various historical developments since the occupation of assam by the british in 1826.