Why in News?

On 12^th August, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) celebrated World Elephant Day in Coimbatore, focusing on human-elephant conflict.  

Challenges in Elephant Conservation 

• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation: Expanding settlements and infrastructure block elephant corridors. 
• Human-Elephant Conflict: Shrinking habitats and climate change push elephants into crop fields and villages, causing livelihood damage and leading to 400-500 human deaths and over 60 elephant deaths annually. 
• Poaching: Ivory and body parts targeted, particularly in Northeast India. 
• Infrastructure threats like low-hanging power lines and crude bombs, along with accidental elephant deaths from falling into open wells or pits. 
• Limited resources in remote elephant habitats, like Similipal (Odisha) with few staff and poor roads. 
• Train Collisions: 186 elephants died in train collisions between 2009-10 and 2024, with 77 high-risk stretches identified across India, especially in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, and Uttarakhand.  

Measures Needed for Elephant Conservation 

• Chili Powder Fences & Beehives: Use as deterrents for crop-raiding elephants. 
• Banana Trap Crops: Plant fodder crops like bananas along forest edges to divert elephants from main crops. 
• Strengthen Habitat Protection: Reconnect fragmented habitats through land acquisition, Gram Sabha-led consent, and voluntary relocation, as recommended by the Elephant Task Force (2010). 
• Technological Interventions: Use GPS collar tracking to monitor movement and predict conflict hotspots. 
• Capacity Building: Equip forest staff with better tools, veterinary units, and non-lethal conflict training. 
• Community Participation: Expand Gaj Yatra and Gaj Shilpi initiatives to raise awareness. 
• Mitigation of Elephant-Train Collision: B building ramps, underpasses, overpasses, and installing Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) to monitor and alert train operators about elephant movements.