Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has revealed the number of human casualties due to elephant attacks as well as elephant deaths due to various reasons like train hits, electrocution, poaching, and poisoning in Assam over the past five years. The Ministry has also outlined the measures adopted by the state to reduce human-elephant conflict (HEC).
HEC has assumed significant proportions in the state, resulting in the loss of lives of both humans and elephants. Factors like shrinking elephant habitats, a lack of sufficient food in forest areas, and the depredation of forest cover by humans are causing conflict between humans and pachyderms. Elephants venture near human settlements in search of food and destroy crops and houses in the process. To defend their crops, houses, and lives, humans resort to inhuman means like putting up electric fences and high-voltage power lines to deter the elephants. This results in the unfortunate deaths of elephants. In 2023–24 alone, a total of 11 elephants were killed in Assam by electrocution, and many are considered to be intentional due to the high voltage used in electric fences, although some deaths were caused by neglect.
Sometimes it is the other way around, as elephants also attack humans for different reasons, often leading to their deaths. In the last five years, a large number of human casualties have occurred in the state. In 2019–20, there were 75 human deaths; in 2020–21, it was 91; in 2021–22, it was 63; in 2022–23, there were 80 deaths; and in 2023–24, the number was 74.
On the other hand, the number of elephant casualties in the state from different factors was also considerable. Train accidents alone accounted for 24 deaths from 2019–20 to 2023–24. Electrocution caused the highest number of deaths, accounting for 55 elephants losing their lives in the period from 2019–20 to 2023–24. Poaching also claimed several elephants, with two elephants killed by poachers in 2022–23 and one in 2023–24.
The conflict has also taken an ominous turn, with people resorting to poisoning to ward off elephants. Poisoning caused one elephant death in 2020–21, six in 2021–22, two in 2022–23, and one in 2023–24.
The ministry said that management of wildlife, including mitigation and management of human-elephant conflict (HEC), is primarily the responsibility of state governments. The State Forest Departments are working with the local people to address HEC issues through periodic awareness campaigns to sensitize, guide, and advise the general public on human-animal conflict, including the dissemination of information through various forms of media, the ministry added.
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