Context: Recently, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released a booklet on “Best practices of Human-Elephant Conflict Management in India”  on eve of World Elephant Day.
About World Elephant Day

• World Elephant Daycelebrated on August 12 is an international annual event, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world’s elephants.
• The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness on elephant conservation, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better protection and management of wild and captive elephants.
• Asian elephants are listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
• The current population estimates indicate that more than 60 % of the Asian elephant population is held in India.
• Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species.
• Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India and India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.

Reasons for man-animal conflict

• Lost ranges and blocked corridors for elephants have made elephants look for soft landscapes adjoining forests such as coffee, tea and cardamom estates, and in the absence of these, wander into food-rich farms falling in their movement pathways. 
• Expansion of human settlements into forests – expansion of cities, industrial areas, railway/road infrastructure, tourism etc.
• Commercial pressures eat into already diminished habitat.
• Allowing livestock to graze in forest areas
• Land use transformations such as change from protected forest patches to agricultural and horticultural lands and monoculture plantations are further destroying the habitats of wildlife.
• Unscientific structures and practices of forest management in the country
• Infestation of wildlife habitat by invasive exotic weeds leads to decreased availability of edible grasses for wild herbivores
• Decreased prey base caused by poaching of herbivores has also resulted in carnivores moving out of forests in search of prey and to indulge in cattle lifting.

Concerns regarding Human-Elephant Conflicts

• Elephant-human conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation.
• When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict from crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans for reasons other than ivory and habitat degradation.
• Such encounters foster resentment against the elephants amongst the human population and this can result in elephants being viewed as a nuisance and killed.
• In addition to the direct conflicts between humans and elephants, elephants also suffer indirect costs like degradation of habitat and loss of food plants.

Government initiatives

• Surakhsya Portal: It is a National Portal on Human elephant conflict (HEC) that aims to collect real time information & manage conflicts on a real time basis to set data collection protocols, data visualization tools and data transmission pipelines.
• Significance: This will enable policy-makers to use data for policy formulation and for preparation of Action Plans for mitigation of conflicts.
• Project Elephant (PE):It was launched in 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors. 
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme and seeks to address the issues of human-elephant conflict and the welfare of domesticated elephants.
• Use of LiDAR technology: Government is using LiDAR technology in order to provide fodder and water augmentation in forest areas so that animals will get food and water in forest areas and will not come outside. 

Measures need to be taken

• Improvement of habitat: In-situ and ex-situ habitat conservation measures will help in securing animals their survival.
• Re-locating animal habitats away from residential and commercial centres will serve to minimize animal-man conflict for illegal and self-interested motives.
• Surveillance: Increased vigilance and protection of identified locations using hi-tech surveillance tools like sensors can help in tracking the movement of animals and warn the local population.
• Awareness Programmes: To create awareness among people and sensitize them about the Do’s and Don’ts in the forest areas.
• Training programs: Training to the police offices and local people should be provided for this purpose forest department should frame guidelines.

Road Ahead

• There is a need to improve enforcement policies for preventing the illegal poaching and trade of ivory and conserving elephant habitats, better treatment for captive elephants. 
• India is committed to the cause of saving Elephants and other animals and is working towards robust, practical and cost-effective solutions to end the Human-Animal Conflict.