Kochi: Anthropogenic activities, human-induced actions and infrastructure, claimed the lives of 1,653 wild elephants in India between 2009 and 2025, with electrocution, train collisions and poaching emerging as the leading causes, according to a new study. The findings are particularly significant as India is home to nearly 60% of the world’s Asian elephant population. The study, Reframing Human–Elephant Conflict in India Through Context-Dependent Coexistence Strategies, was conducted jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
Electrocution emerged as the leading cause of elephant deaths, accounting for 1,105 fatalities during the period. The highest number of electrocution deaths was reported from Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Train collisions claimed 225 elephants between 2009 and 2025, with Assam recording the highest number of deaths (82), followed by West Bengal (62).
Assam also reported the highest number of elephant deaths due to poisoning, accounting for 45 of the 79 such deaths recorded in the country during the period. Odisha followed with 15 deaths.
Poaching claimed 214 elephants, with Odisha reporting the highest number of deaths (66). The study noted recurring instances of poaching in Assam (27), Kerala (24), Meghalaya (23), Karnataka (22) and Tamil Nadu (22).
The study also examined human casualties arising from conflicts with elephants. Between 2009 and 2025, a total of 7,868 human deaths were reported across 16 elephant-range states in India. Odisha recorded the highest number of fatalities (1,495), followed by West Bengal (1,306), Jharkhand (1,205) and Assam (1,161). Together, these four states accounted for nearly 70% of all reported human deaths during the period.
The study further analysed environmental and anthropogenic factors driving human-elephant conflict, including landscape fragmentation, region-specific conditions and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.
According to a senior conservation scientist: “Human fatalities are not directly proportional to elephant population size. States with relatively smaller elephant populations, such as Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, recorded disproportionately high numbers of deaths compared with the southern states, which have much larger elephant populations. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala together have an elephant population of around 15,000. However, human casualties arising from elephant conflicts are comparatively lower there.”
“The highest numbers of human and elephant deaths are concentrated in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, where the combined elephant population is only around 2,000 to 3,000. This suggests that elephant numbers alone do not explain the higher incidence of conflicts. Extensive forest fragmentation is a major factor driving these conflicts,” the scientist said.
The study calls for policy shifts, including decentralised conflict governance, time-bound and locally administered compensation mechanisms and greater community oversight. It also recommends ensuring that roads, railways, mines and power infrastructure incorporate elephant-safe designs from the planning stage itself. Other recommendations include performance-based mitigation measures, targeted interventions in identified conflict hotspots, and strengthening support systems such as ex gratia payments, early-warning mechanisms, training programmes and revised operational guidelines.
According to the latest DNA-based population estimation, India’s elephant population stood at 22,446 during the 2021–25 period.
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