Climate Change Makes West Bengal A Human-Elephant Conflict Zone

Villagers of Bijaynagar tea garden near Naxalbari watch as a herd of wild elephants walk towards them. Between 2014 and 2019, 2,361 humans were killed as a result of conflict with elephants, while 510 elephants were killed at the same time.

Photo Courtesy : Avijan Saha

Two elephants, including a calf, died an unnatural death at Hamiltonganj range near Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on 12 August which is observed as the World Elephant Day. Recently another death of an adult elephant was reported on 28 August at Dudumari Basti near Banarhat in northern West Bengal. Locals claimed the elephant might be pregnant and it was a “deliberate electrocution” to drive the elephant away from the farmlands.

It was the eleventh elephant death reported since lockdown was announced on 25 March this year, out of which eight elephants have died due to electrocution in northern West Bengal, forest department sources said. At the same time, around four persons lost their lives in Human Elephant Conflict (HEC).

These incidents highlighted the magnitude of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) in the region. Vinod Kumar Yadav, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), West Bengal said that the elephants died in Buxa Tiger Reserve area after coming in contact with an electric pole.

An approximately 30-year-old female elephant was found dead at Hilla tea garden in Nagrakata in end of July. Elephant conservationists claimed that 11 elephants were killed due to electrocution of which four were in Buxa, four in Jalpaiguri, two in Baikunthapur and one in Jaldapara wildlife division in the past ten months.(Photo Courtesy : Special arrangement)

“Illegal electric hooking is a serious problem in the tea gardens of Dooars and Terai region. I spoke to principle secretary of power department and they will take strict action against it and those deliberately laying electric wires to kill wildlife will face punishments.”

Vinod Kumar Yadav, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), West Bengal

Yadav accepted that deliberate electrocution has increased this year. “In case of Banarhat we have already identified the culprit and issued a lookout notice. He will get stringent punishment according to laws,” he further asserted.

Three elephant deaths were reported at Gajaldoba area in Jalpaiguri, one case was reported inside the cantonment area at Bagdogra in May, and two incidents were reported at Bhutia Basti near Buxa Tiger Reserve, and Madarihat near Jaldapara National Park, on 16 June and 24 June respectively. A 25-year-old elephant was electrocuted at Bamandanga tea garden near Nagrakata and a 15-year old tusker was found dead inside Ramjhora tea garden near Dalgaon on 21 July and 22 July respectively.

“There are several deliberate electrocutions that happened recently at Terai and Dooars region of West Bengal. Similar incidents of electrocution were also reported from Gajaldoba area and it has become a regular practice in the area. Recently forest officials filed FIR against six accused and they were arrested under Wildlife Protection Act,” said Shyama Prasad Pandey of the Society for Protecting Ophiofauna & Animal Rights (SPOAR), a local NGO in Jalpaiguri.

Human Habitation, Highways And Railways Altered Lifestyle

A study on spatial patterns of human-elephant conflicts in changing land cover in North Bengal revealed that both the elephant and human population have increased in the past few decades with large tracts of forests converted to commercial tea plantations, army camps and human settlements in Siliguri and adjourning areas. Koustav Choudhury of Society for Nature & Animal Protection (SNAP), a Siliguri-based NGO, said that illegal encroachment around reserve forests is making HEC situation worse.

“Several people from Nepal encroached forest lands and settled in small bastis near Naxalbari and Baikunthapur area. Local administration has given pattas to these families in past decades. These were either elephant habitats or part of their traditional corridors,” he added. Human population increased by 6,44,989 between 2001 and 2011 census while elephant population increased by 201 in the region. He further explained, “These communities do not have any understanding on elephant movement. Thus, relationship between elephants and people is gradually getting strained resulting in causalities on both the ends.”

An elephant herd passing through Asian Highway 2 at night along Kiran Chandra Tea Garden near Bagdogra. The herd passes through the highway every night to fetch food from agricultural fields and return to the forest by early morning. An elephant calf was seriously injured in the corridor after being hit by a speeding car last year. (Photo Courtesy: Avijan Saha)

Larger mammals like elephants that require extensive habitats for survival are the most affected ones due to the land use change. Newly constructed Asian Highway 2 that connects Panitanki near Siliguri on India-Nepal border passes through traditional elephant corridor along Kiran Chandra Tea Garden near Bagdogra. It restricts movements of these long-ranging animals.

The railway track inside Dooars is notorious for elephant deaths ever since the line was converted to broad gauge. In the 168-km railway track, almost 74 km (44% of its length) is through forest that includes three Protected Areas (Mahananda, Chapramari and Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuaries as well as buffer areas of Buxa Tiger Reserve), and passes through 10 important elephant corridors. Apart from this, a large tract of forest has been converted to housing projects, commercial tea plantation and stone-crushing industry over the past decades.

Transboundary Elephant Corridor Blocked

This Mahananda-Kolabari corridor used to connect the elephant population of Mahananda Wildlife sanctuary to Kolabari Reserve Forest, and finally with the forests of Jhapa district of Nepal. The movement to Nepal is currently cut off due to electric fencing along the Mechi river. For over a century, elephants have used a route along the banks of the Mechi river that separates India and Nepal.

“Elephants would use the route to travel to Nepal at night and feast on maize fields during the harvest season. In 2016, the Nepal government, with the aid of the World Bank, set up 17.14 km electric fence that prevents the elephants from crossing over to Nepal and the traditional route has been blocked for over hundred elephants in the region,” said Avijan Saha, an elephant conservationist based in Siliguri.

Earlier, elephants used to cross Mechi river to move to the forests in Nepal but now 17.14 km of electric fencing has been set up that prevents the elephants from crossing over to the country. Sources said that recently Nepal government planned to extend this electric fencing. (Photo Courtesy: Tanmoy Bhaduri)

The elephants now go up to the Mechi river and return, which has increased human-elephant conflict on the Indian side.

Upasana Ganguly, Officer In-Charge, Right of Passage: Elephant Corridors Projects, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said that it needs trans-boundary conservation approach with neighbouring country Nepal to reduce human-elephant conflict and enhance the connectivity for elephants. “It is urgent to initiate a dialogue and build an understanding between two nations because elephants are nomadic and require space and their routes should not be blocked anyway,” she added.

Climate Change Making It Worse

Most seasonal streams across the elephant habitats in the region are getting dried up due to creation of dams in the upstream, agriculture on riverbed and installation of rampant shallow pumps in irrigation. “The water table in Naxalbari and Phanshidewa blocks have abruptly fell in the past few years. Ground water recharge has reduced drastically. As a result, water sources for elephants in Lohagarh landscape went dry during February and March this year,” said Avijan Saha, elephant conservationist based in Siliguri.

Illegal electric fences on farms are a serious threat to elephants. A 15-year-old elephant was found electrocuted near a paddy field at Takimari near Gajaldoba in early May. (Photo Courtesy: Special arrangement)

A recent study published in Diversity and Distributions journal also emphasised that climate change will push elephant ranges towards higher elevations in the Himalayas, directly through temperature and water availability. India and Nepal are home to more than 60% of the total wild Asian elephant population.

The results of the study revealed that by the end of this century, around 41.8% of the 256,518 square kilometres of habitat available at present will be lost due to combined effects of climate change and human pressure. The projected habitat loss would be “higher in human‐dominated sites at lower elevations due to intensifying droughts, leading elephants to seek refuge at higher elevations along valleys with greater water availability in the Himalayan mountains.” Koustav Choudhury of SNAP claimed that rising temperature has also impacted dusting and cooling of elephants in the region.

Conservation Plans With Coexistence In Mind

In a bid to minimise the damages and mitigate the conflict, an Automated Early Warning System (AEWS) has been installed in many forested areas across three districts in northern West Bengal. The project is undertaken by Society for Nature and Animal Protection (SNAP) in collaboration with the forest department.

It is used to alert locals living in villages near forests about the movement of the elephants. The system is mounted with a pole and has infrared technology, temperature and movement sensors along with the controller installed in it. The device can detect the movement of elephants within a 200-metre radius.

"When an elephant comes into the 200-metre radius of the device, it sends an alert to the forest office where a hooter starts buzzing as an indication to the villagers that the elephant is approaching them. As of now we have installed 110 AEWS and those areas observed 40% reduction of conflicts in last year," said Koustav Choudhury of SNAP.

Volunteers of Society for Nature and Animal Protection (SNAP) in collaboration with the forest department installed 110 Automated Early Warning Systems at three districts in northern West Bengal. Photo Courtesy: SNAP

Upasana Ganguly of WTI said that deforestation and climate change are the reasons behind rising cases of conflicts. “Elephant habitats are getting fragmented, which is leading to escalation in conflict with humans. Most of the elephant corridors in northern West Bengal pass through tea gardens and are under tremendous anthropogenic pressure. Now we need to have a solution of coexistence. As part of our awareness campaigns, we focus on empowering local communities where we build capacity of local villagers, and mobilise them to ensure safe passage for elephants through their corridors which is for their safety too, and advocating in local as well as regional policy-making level.”

Sharing the same sentiment, Riikjyoti Singha Roy, India Coordinator of Save Elephant Foundation, said that HEC will never be minimised without involving local communities.

“We believe in peaceful coexistence. Thus, we are working with local communities, involving them to form night guards in villages which inform us about elephant movement so that our quick response team can reach fast to those areas to avoid conflict as well as damages,” he explained.

(Tanmoy Bhaduri is an independent journalist. This story was produced as part of Himalayan Journalists Collective Against Climate Change Fellowship. He can be reached at @tanmoy_pj.)