Human-elephant conflict logs more deaths in southern India

Human-elephant conflict in South India rises, with 130 human deaths in 2023-24 due to habitat loss. A new report calls for regional management strategies.

New Delhi: Human deaths caused by elephants and elephant deaths have increased in recent years across Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with habitat degradation, fragmentation, water scarcity and infrastructure projects affecting elephant movement and pushing the animals closer to human settlements, according to a new technical report by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

The report, titled Regional Action Plan for Comprehensive Understanding & Management of Human-Elephant Conflict in South India, was launched by the environment ministry in Visakhapatnam on August 13 as part of World Elephant Day 2026 celebrations. It seeks to provide a regional framework to address human-elephant conflict across the four states.

The report analysed five-year data on human deaths caused by elephants and elephant deaths between 2019-20 and 2023-24. It found that human deaths fluctuated but reached their highest level in 2023-24, while elephant deaths showed an overall rise during the period.

A total of 130 human deaths caused by elephants were reported across the four states in 2023-24, the highest in the five-year period. The number was 110 in 2022-23, 99 in 2021-22, 84 in 2020-21 and 113 in 2019-20.

“On an average, 109 human deaths happen annually in the region with maximum human deaths reported from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and least from Andhra Pradesh. Also, the conflict cases in terms of reported human deaths appear to be on the rise in the last four years,” the report said.

Elephant deaths increased from 38 in 2019-20 to 50 in 2023-24. There were 39 deaths each in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and 41 in 2022-23.

“The rising incidence of elephants straying into human-use areas is largely driven by severe habitat degradation, the lure of attractive crops grown in forest fringe villages, and the fragmentation and disconnection of habitats that force elephants into areas of human use,” the report said.

State-wise data showed in 2023-24, the number of human deaths caused by elephants was 59 in Tamil Nadu, 48 in Karnataka, 27 in Kerala and only six in Andhra Pradesh.

Prof Raman Sukumar, an elephant expert, who is also the National Science Chair at the Indian Institute of Science, said while the number of human deaths from elephants is the lowest in Andhra, this should be assessed in relation to the elephant population of the state.

“Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have a 45-fold and 20-fold the elephant population of Andhra, yet the number of human deaths in the former is nowhere close to the magnitude seen in the latter state. Andhra thus experiences much higher levels of conflict for its much smaller elephant population which is a legacy of a dispersal into the state which began in 1983 following the El Nino-related drought of 1982. The number of human deaths in the southern states has been increasing over the years as more elephants come out of the forested habitats into agriculture and settlements, a pattern seen widely across the country in recent decades,” he said.

In terms of elephant deaths across the states, Tamil Nadu saw 16 deaths in 2023-24, 14 in Karnataka and 10 each in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The report also examined the impact of infrastructure projects on elephant habitats. In Andhra Pradesh, it flagged highway expansion projects, including NH-716 (Tirupati-Kadapa), NH-71 and the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, and railway doubling projects on the Renigunta-Balepalli and Tirupati-Pakala-Katpadi routes. These projects have affected areas where elephants have recently begun using habitats, increasing the risk of road and train collisions. The report recommended wildlife overpasses and underpasses in vulnerable stretches.

In Karnataka, large dams and reservoirs, including Tunga, Bhadra, Hemavati, Linganamakki and Supa, have led to the submergence of elephant habitats, while the upgradation of NH-75 (Bengaluru-Mangaluru) has fragmented elephant corridors. Night-time traffic restrictions have been attempted in some areas.

In Kerala, highways, railway lines, hydropower and irrigation projects, along with tourism infrastructure, resorts and expanding pilgrimage sites, have affected elephant habitats. In Tamil Nadu, highway upgrades, tourism infrastructure, contour canals and flume channels have also been flagged for their impact on elephant habitats and corridors.

The report recommended a landscape-level approach to managing conflict, protection of critical corridors, physical barriers combined with community measures, better compensation mechanisms, stronger monitoring and research, and an inter-departmental task force to coordinate action across agencies.