Rapid deforestation and human encroachment into wildlife habitats have led to increasingly hostile confrontations between humans and elephants
Forty-one-year-old Ranjita Terangpi of Hanboka village near Deithor in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam would often venture to the nearby Hanboka hill to collect taro leaves and other herbs. As on other days, Ranjita had gone to Hanboka hill on the evening of November 25, accompanied by her husband, Charansing Hanshe. Hanboka falls under the North Dolamara Regional Forest Office, and a forest official tried to warn the couple about the presence of a wild elephant herd nearby. Before they could return, two elephants attacked the couple, killing Ranjita on the spot. Charansing sustained serious injuries and was sent to Diphu Medical College and Hospital for better treatment. Deithor in Karbi Anglong district is part of the Karbi Anglong-Intanki Elephant Reserve.
The bordering areas of Karbi Anglong and Golaghat districts in the Kaliyoni Valley lie in close proximity to a number of elephant corridors. Rapid deforestation and human encroachment into wildlife habitats have led to increasingly hostile confrontations between humans and elephants. Hill-cutting, unregulated sand mining, and boulder lifting from the Kaliyoni River have brought people and elephants face to face with growing frequency. The Numaligarh area serves as a transit zone for elephants moving between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong.
With the establishment of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Telgaram in the 1990s, the area turned into a hotbed of Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC). Vast tracts of forested land were cleared to accommodate the refinery project. Expansion of the township and the emergence of new settlements increased incidents of human-elephant conflict, which have reached alarming proportions over the years.
Devastated by habitat destruction, elephants often take refuge in tea gardens. Tea estates such as Letekujan, Madhabpur, Sundarpur, Dhalaguri, Bogidhala, and Kalioni have become "refuges" for wild herds, while nearby areas like Daigrung, Morongi, Falangani, and Bokial have borne the brunt of regular crop raids. Incidents occur when elephants encounter barriers in their refuge or along their traditional pathways.
Just a couple of days before the tragic incident at Hanboka, on November 23, another person -- 21-year-old Gopal Bhumij -- was attacked by a wild elephant at No. 5 Rongbong under the Bokial Forest Beat Office near Numaligarh. The young man, who hailed from the Govindpur tea estate, succumbed to his injuries on the way to Swahid Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital in Golaghat. In yet another incident on November 26, Ghanakanta Saikia of Napathar village, Numaligarh, under the Golaghat Forest Division, lost his life under similar circumstances. Throughout the week, reports of such deaths poured in from Golaghat, Goalpara, Karbi Anglong, Nagaon, Sonitpur and Udalguri -- districts that have become red zones of the conflict.
Assam has remained an epicentre of human-elephant conflict since the late 1980s, with most cases reported from Sonitpur and Golaghat districts. A WWF survey once revealed that HEC in Sonitpur was among the most alarming of such conflicts in the world. Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary and Reserve Forests such as Behali and Balipara -- which share contiguity with Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve -- have suffered serious degradation due to large-scale encroachment.
The last decade saw a major escalation of HEC in districts sharing inter-state and international boundaries -- Sonitpur, Golaghat, Goalpara and Udalguri. The conflict has spread to many other districts in recent years, including Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Hojai, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Majuli, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Kamrup, Baksa and Nalbari.
Piyush Marak, a resident of Na-ghuli, Panbari in Kamrup district, was seriously injured after being attacked by a wild elephant while returning home from Chandrapur in the suburbs of Guwahati. He died at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on November 19. A week earlier, two people died in a similar incident at Jalahbasti in Suwankhata, Baksa district.
Some 27 people lost their lives in attacks by wild elephants between October and November across different parts of the state. During the same period, at least 12 elephant deaths were recorded, caused by poisoning and electrocution -- mostly retaliatory acts. (Deaths of elephant calves from drowning or falling into mud pits and drainage ditches are not included. In fact, drainage ditches in tea plantations have become deadly traps for calves.)
At least 75 people have lost their lives in the state till November this year; 45 elephant deaths have been recorded so far. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), examining data from 2000 to 2023, found that 1,468 people had lost their lives and 337 were injured in encounters across the state. On the other hand, 626 elephants were killed due to anthropogenic causes during the same period. Data from the Assam Forest Department shows that from 2010 to 2020, wild elephants killed 875 people in Assam, while 825 elephants died in retaliation.
Every year, an average of 60-70 elephants die due to poisoning, poaching, electrocution, natural disasters like floods, and entrapment in drainage ditches and industrial structures. There has also been an increasing trend of deaths due to herpes and septicemia from wounds caused by razor-sharp barbed wire used in tea garden fences. In Assam, 25 percent of elephant corridors have railway lines passing through them. Elephants moving between forests are frequently hit by trains while crossing tracks.
When natural habitats are destroyed, animals lose their primary food sources and breeding grounds, leading to a sharp decline in their populations. Mega-fauna with large home ranges and high food requirements are among the worst affected by habitat alteration and loss of connectivity. Experts say that unsustainable development agendas have become a major threat to the survival of Asian elephants in some of their last remaining habitats.
These mega-herbivores, which migrate over large areas, are increasingly restricted by shrinking food and water availability, noise, and security disturbances -- leading to behavioural changes. Elephants have been observed becoming more aggressive and sometimes attacking humans even without provocation.
"So far as elephants are concerned, shrinkage of habitat will force them to raid villages until, unfortunately, the animal is defeated in the war," said Bhupen Talukdar, a retired forest official and author of Elephants in Assam. "We have done nothing so far to understand the habitat condition. Unless one knows the status, both past and present, no one can prescribe any remedy," he added.
Land-use changes have severely impacted elephant habitats and corridors over the last three decades. Large swathes of habitat have been cleared for agriculture, industries, monoculture plantations, settlements, mining and other development projects. Vital migratory pathways or elephant corridors -- which provide contiguity between forests -- have been encroached upon.
Long-ranging elephants have been forced to change their routes and frequent newer areas, navigating wounds and obstructions -- solar fences, sagging wires, industrial structures, railway tracks, etc.
Areas with reduced forest connectivity, degraded habitats, less water availability, mining activity, industrial expansion, increased agriculture and expanding human settlements have witnessed the most intense conflict.
Human activities inside forests compel elephants -- who need hundreds of kilograms of food daily -- to move out in search of easy food in paddy fields. Human-elephant conflict manifests in crop raiding, property damage, and loss of human and elephant lives. Farmers continue to lose a large proportion of their crops due to regular visits by wild herds. Fear and insecurity on both sides lead to mutual intolerance and often deadly outcomes.
Most deaths are recorded during harvest seasons when elephant movements coincide with agricultural activity, linking crop damage with heightened conflict.
Human-Wildlife Conflict has reached such proportions in India that the Supreme Court has directed states to actively consider classifying it as a "natural disaster." Such recognition, the Court said, would enable faster relief, easier access to disaster-management resources and clearer administrative responsibility. A Bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice A.G. Masih and Justice A.S. Chandurkar issued the order while hearing a case on ecological damage in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. The Court also held that all states are required to provide Rs 10 lakh ex gratia compensation for every human death caused by wildlife, as mandated under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH) scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
In Assam, the situation has escalated into a crisis, underscoring the need for urgent mitigation measures. Although compensation for loss of life, property or livelihood has increased, many victim families continue to be left behind. The Bench stressed the need for quick release of compensation without delay or unnecessary hurdles at the local level, noting that delays erode public trust, which is essential for encouraging community participation in conservation.
The State Forest Department must recognise the need to secure community support for conservation and incorporate community voices while framing policies for result-oriented conservation. It must train frontline staff, expedite settlement of rights, and ensure connectivity between remaining wildlife habitats in fragmented landscapes.
Management of conflict-prone tea estates must take responsibility for educating communities about elephant behaviour, safety practices and the importance of elephant conservation through outreach and awareness. Building trust and tolerance is essential to pursuing a policy of coexistence.