Elephant is a keystone species in the Asian Tropical Forests and can act as umbrella or flagship for conserving biodiversity.

India holds by far the largest number of wild Asian elephants, estimated at about 27312, this is nearly 60% of the population of the species (Bist 2002). Elephant is placed in Schedule I and Part I of Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972) conferring it the highest level of protection

Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) has emerged as one of the most challenging problems for elephant management and conservation in recent times. It creates considerable economic hardships for the affected people as well as survival threats for the elephants. It is estimated that every year approximately 500 persons are killed across the country and more than 100 elephants are killed annually, mostly as retaliatory killings by people, due to HEC.

Elephants have been declared as National Heritage Animal by the government in 2010. But elephants and people are often in conflict in our country because both have large spatial requirements and have similar requirements in terms of terrain. Elephants have large spatial requirements to meet the resource needs of their large body size, which makes them particularly vulnerable to land use changes, and leads to situations where extend their range further into human use areas. HEC, therefore, needs to be addressed in a holistic manner and mitigation efforts should focused addressing the drivers, on preventive and impact reduction measures, including efficient emergency response.

The purpose of these guidelines is to facilitate a common understanding and consensus among key stakeholders in India, on key approaches and possible solutions for mitigating human elephant conflict in India.

Download a copy of the guidelines here