Human-Elephant Conflict

Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) is a very real concern throughout various regions of Africa and Asia. Headlines scream with phrases such as “Wild herds of elephants kill…,” causing fear and outrage, with local villagers vowing to take matters into their own hands. And, so, the common story once again unfolds of man vs. “beast”. IFAW is working in various parts of both Africa and Asia to mitigate the local conflict between elephants and the surrounding communities.

Circumstances differ in each locale and IFAW designs regional approaches accordingly. For example, in various African countries, IFAW is aiding the construction of barriers to deter wildlife from entering human settlements, and vice versa. In parallel, within Asia, IFAW staff monitors elephants and studies behaviour, to deter conflict between humans and elephants. IFAW recognizes and addresses the fact that the welfare of both elephants and man must be taken into account.

Addressing conflict

Often the cause of HEC is deemed to be overpopulation or overabundance of elephants, without proper scientific proof. The lack of data does not stop authorities from authorizing mass culls of elephants or the killing of so-called 'rogue' elephants. Through awareness of situations like this, we see it is absolutely vital that we proactively rally, with willing parties, forming our own studies and collecting our own data. Park and/or forestry officials are gathered for trainings on how best to deal with HEC issues in the most effective, yet humane and ecologically sound manner. This means working with scientists and decision-makers to understand the factors driving habitat use by elephants, and therefore making more informed and ethical decisions regarding their management. In other situations, partnering with local enforcement officers, nature reserve officers and local farmers to develop elephant monitoring practices, as well as individual elephant documentation and behavior studies, is the warranted course of action. By allowing authorities awareness of elephant activity, we are able to prompt smart choices for resource allocation and action.

Changing the focus

Instead of focusing our attention on the symptoms, such as apparent assumptions of an excess of elephants, we find ourselves needing to take a closer look at the cause. Why are these traditionally docile beings running rampant through townships and populated areas? Why are they behaving with violence, as we have seen in recent cases? These are international issues recently receiving long overdue media attention.

When we start asking ourselves questions such as this, and actually studying this developing issue, we immediately find that it is not so out-of-line for these animals to be acting as they have. If we delve into individual histories, we see that these elephants have often witnessed mass culls, or been orphaned by poaching. They have likely seen their families slaughtered in front of their very eyes. One theory, according to recent scientific findings, suggests that a great deal of the behavior of such elephants can be attributed to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), something experts note would be a given, had a human being endured what these elephants had experienced. Factoring this into the HEC equation, we are forced more than ever to take a step back and contemplate how to best aid the elephant and his human neighbor.

BEYOND BORDERS

Elephants are deprived of space through either habitat destruction or park and country borders. In effect, they may be overpopulated in some cases, but only in confined, poorly managed environments. It is this uneducated predetermination of the former by authorities that brings culls and hunts into the picture. Humans need to be mindful and understanding of the elephants living around them. Before settling, one must be thoughtful about whether that move may truly be an encroachment on elephant habitat. If so, it would be wise to reconsider that move. The problem lies in that individuals have not considered this encroachment into elephant habitat, and/or have not taken the elephants into account when making decisions regarding land use. Therefore, solutions are needed that will be manageable for existing situations, as well as those that will realistically pop up in the future. To address these issues, IFAW as well as renowned scientists and ecologists suggest trans-boundary wildlife corridors, or “mega-parks for meta-populations”, a strategy that has been put into motion through Peace Parks and Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), already currently existing between regions of southern Africa. Defined as a cross between multiple country borders, migration space is significantly increased for elephants. Some African and Asian governments have already started implementing such a strategy, and IFAW agrees that it is the best way to approach elephant conservation.

The myriad of HEC issues will not fall by the wayside overnight, but by addressing the cause of the conflict, and formulating localized strategies, the years to come will appear much brighter for elephant populations, as well as the people living in their proximity.