2,950 killed in human-wildlife conflict in India in 5 years

Karam Prakash

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New Delhi, July 27

Human-wildlife conflict — encounters between humans and wildlife — has been on the increase in the country over the past few years.

As many as 2,950 people have been killed by elephants and tigers in India since 2018. This was informed by Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

It was elephant attacks that took the lives of 90 per cent of total victims of this conflict. In 2022-23, 605 people fell prey to elephant attacks. With 148 deaths, it was Odisha that reported the highest killings.

As to tiger attacks, the number of people killed in the country has doubled. From 59 in 2021, the number of deaths in tiger attacks rose to 103 in 2022, the minister informed the Upper House. The highest deaths caused by tiger attacks have been reported from Maharashtra wherein 85 people died.

The ministry said they had already issued guidelines for developing linear infrastructure in wildlife and its adjacent areas to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

“An advisory on dealing with human-wildlife conflict was issued by the ministry to all states and UTs in February 2021. The advisory recommends coordinated inter-departmental action; identification of conflict hot spots; adherence to Standard Operating Procedures; and establishment of rapid response teams,” the minister said in a written reply.

The minister further stated that advanced technology like radio collaring and e-surveillance were also used in human-wildlife conflict mitigation.