Human-Elephant Conflict Escalates to a New High in Odisha as Fodder Shortage Drives Herds Into Villages

The human-elephant conflict in Odisha and particularly in Dhenkanal has increased to an alarming level, claiming lives of 595 humans and 598 elephants since April 2010.

Dhenkanal forest (Odisha): The human-elephant conflict in Odisha and particularly in Dhenkanal has increased to an alarming level, claiming lives of 595 humans and 598 elephants since April 2010, thanks to the rapid dwindling of fodder and drying up of water bodies in the core areas of the state.

Largescale tree felling and the unplanned industrial activities in the forest vicinity have also pushed the elephants to nearby villages in search of food and water causing serious problems for both humans and elephants.

The conflict has become more acute in the recent past since fourteen elephants were killed for various reasons including diseases and train mishaps since April of the current financial year; while 35 human-elephant encounters took place resulting in a loss of the lives of 26 villagers, an all-time high casualty in the state.

This alarming rise in the deaths of both elephants and villagers, as a result of the human-animal conflict in Odisha, has raised a serious concern among environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts who blame the state Forest Department's ‘non-serious and callous approach’ for the grave problem that villagers in the nearby forests are facing and have sought an immediate action plan to prevent further loss of precious lives.

Dhenkanal, with its significant forest cover, has witnessed twelve elephant-human encounters since April in villages like Sogoro, Ichhabatipur, Rodho, Gailo, Pandua, Latadeipur, and Palas Sahi among others, injuring five people and claiming the lives of ten villagers and an elephant.

Since 2014, a total of fifty-five elephants and seventy-one villagers have died, and an equal number of people injured in the one hundred and twenty-nine human-elephant encounters that took place till 3rd June in Dhenkanal itself.

However, not only in Dhenkanal, this human-elephant conflict is witnessed in other districts of the state as well, including Sundergarh, Balasore, Deoghar, Angul, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Cuttack.


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