Human-Elephant Conflict: A Review of Current Management Strategies and Future Directions

Abstract

Human-elephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant range countries. A variety of management strategies have been developed and are practiced at different scales for preventing and mitigating human-elephant conflict. However, human-elephant conflict remains pervasive as the majority of existing prevention strategies are driven by site-specific factors that only offer short-term solutions, while mitigation strategies frequently transfer conflict risk from one place to another. Here, we review current human-elephant conflict management strategies and describe an interdisciplinary conceptual approach to manage species coexistence over the long-term. Our proposed model identifies shared resource use between humans and elephants at different spatial and temporal scales for development of long-term solutions. The model also highlights the importance of including anthropological and geographical knowledge to find sustainable solutions to managing human-elephant conflict.

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REVIEW
published: 11 January 2019
doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00235
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution | www.frontiersin.org 1January 2019 | Volume 6 | Article 235
Edited by:
Matt W. Hayward,
University of Newcastle, Australia
Reviewed by:
Sarah-Anne Jeanetta Selier,
South African National Biodiversity
Institute, South Africa
Mirko Di Febbraro,
University of Molise, Italy
*Correspondence:
Kusum J. Naithani
kusum@uark.edu
Specialty section:
This article was submitted to
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a section of the journal
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Received: 29 June 2018
Accepted: 19 December 2018
Published: 11 January 2019
Citation:
Shaffer LJ, Khadka KK, Van Den
Hoek J and Naithani KJ (2019)
Human-Elephant Conflict: A Review of
Current Management Strategies and
Future Directions.
Front. Ecol. Evol. 6:235.
doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00235
Human-Elephant Conflict: A Review
of Current Management Strategies
and Future Directions
L. Jen Shaffer 1, Kapil K. Khadka 2, Jamon Van Den Hoek 3and Kusum J. Naithani 2
*
1Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States, 2Department of Biological Sciences,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States, 3Geography and Geospatial Science, College of Earth, Atmospheric,
and Oceanic Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
Human-elephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant range countries.
A variety of management strategies have been developed and are practiced at different
scales for preventing and mitigating human-elephant conflict. However, human-elephant
conflict remains pervasive as the majority of existing prevention strategies are driven
by site-specific factors that only offer short-term solutions, while mitigation strategies
frequently transfer conflict risk from one place to another. Here, we review current
human-elephant conflict management strategies and describe an interdisciplinary
conceptual approach to manage species coexistence over the long-term. Our proposed
model identifies shared resource use between humans and elephants at different
spatial and temporal scales for development of long-term solutions. The model also
highlights the importance of including anthropological and geographical knowledge to
find sustainable solutions to managing human-elephant conflict.
Keywords: coupled-natural-human systems, human-elephant conflict, human-wildlife conflict, land management,
resource management, species coexistence, wildlife conservation
INTRODUCTION
Expansion of human settlements and agricultural fields across Asia and Africa has resulted
in widespread loss of elephant habitat, degraded forage, reduced landscape connectivity, and
a significant decline in elephant populations relative to their historical size and overall range
(Thouless et al., 2016; Calabrese et al., 2017). As their habitats shrink, elephants are progressively
forced into closer contact with people, resulting in more frequent and severe conflict over
space and resources with consequences ranging from crop raiding to reciprocal loss of life (e.g.,
Leimgruber et al., 2003; Newmark, 2008; Mcdonald et al., 2009; Western et al., 2009; White
and Ward, 2011; Liu et al., 2017). Human-elephant conflict has become a threat to biodiversity
conservation, and the management of such conflict is a primary goal for elephant conservation
in range countries. Growing understandings of wildlife behavior and spatio-temporal patterns of
human-wildlife conflict have led to the suggestion, development, and adoption of a wide variety
of prevention and mitigation approaches (e.g., Fernando et al., 2005; Gubbi, 2012; Baruch-Mordo
et al., 2013; Hoare, 2015). Current conflict management approaches focus on prevention through
exclusion and on-site deterrents, and mitigation via elephant translocation or selective culling and
monetary compensation for losses. However, these management approaches merely address the
symptoms, rather than the underlying drivers of human-elephant conflict associated with cultural
values, resource use decision-making, and the increasing fragmentation and isolation of elephant
populations.

Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
Long-term resolution of human-elephant conflict and
promotion of peaceful coexistence requires a simultaneous
focusing of management efforts on site-specific considerations as
well as the formulation and application of strategic plans at the
landscape level that directly address underlying anthropogenic
drivers and their spatio-temporal variation. We suggest that
just as wildlife needs are measured and modeled to improve
conservation management planning, information about cultural
values, norms, and decision-making regarding the spatial
and temporal use of habitat to support local livelihoods and
household production are also valuable. This sociocultural
component of human-elephant conflict, while addressed by
anthropologists, human geographers, and other social scientists,
has not been effectively integrated into previous conflict
management models. A coupled natural and human systems
approach offers a potential framework for understanding the
interaction of human and elephant behavior and resource use
at the landscape level. In this paper, we highlight various costs
associated with human and elephant conflict and discuss the
limitations of current prevention and mitigation approaches.
Finally, we offer a model to guide future research that supports
long-term solutions for sustainable land management decisions
and promotes peaceful coexistence of humans and elephants.
ELEPHANT SPECIES’ RANGE AND
ECOLOGY
The Elephantidae family once ranged across the American,
European, Asian, and African continents, but now only
occurs in parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Figure 1)
(Thouless et al., 2016; Calabrese et al., 2017). The International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists extant Asian
elephants (Elephas maximus) as endangered, and African
savanna (Loxodonta africana) and forest (L. cyclotis) elephant
species as vulnerable (IUCN, 2017). The population of Asian
elephants is estimated at 41,410 to 52,345 individuals scattered
among fragmented habitats in 13 range countries in Asia,
and currently occupying 5% of their historic geographic range
(Sukumar, 2006). The population of African elephants is much
larger; estimated at 550,000 to 700,000 individuals living in 37
range countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet more than 70% of the
geographic range is unprotected and poaching for the illegal ivory
trade continues to decimate Africa’s elephant populations (Chase
et al., 2016). India holds the largest population of Asian elephants
(60% of total population), while Botswana and Zimbabwe have
the largest populations of African elephants (combined 47% of
the continental population) (Choudhury et al., 2008; Chase et al.,
2016; Thouless et al., 2016).
Elephants are long-lived animals, and their survival depends
upon regular migration over large distances to search for
food, water, and social and reproductive partners (Sukumar,
2003; Whyte, 2012). As a generalist mega-herbivore, elephants
consume a maximum of 150 kg of forage and 190 L of water
daily (Vancuylenberg, 1977; Sukumar, 2003). Meeting these basic
needs requires a large foraging area to provide a variety of
grasses, shrubs, and tree leaves, roots, and fruits. A typical
family herd of Asian elephants (∼5–20 individuals) has a
home range size of 100–1,000 km2(Fernando and Lande,
2000; Williams et al., 2001; Alfred et al., 2012); while an
African elephant family herd ranges over an area 11–500 km2
(Shannon et al., 2006; Thomas et al., 2008). As they range and
feed, elephants affect the surrounding biodiversity. Researchers
have found strong correlations between the loss of Asian
elephants and reduced dispersal and survival of seeds for large-
fruiting trees at a protected area (PA) in India, indicating an
engineering influence of elephants on forested ecosystems in Asia
(Fritz, 2017; Sekar et al., 2017). Long-term research in African
savannas and forested areas documents the keystone role of
African elephants in shaping surrounding landscapes through
feeding activities that damage tree canopies, uproot small trees
and shrubs, and disperse seeds (Kohi et al., 2011; Coverdale
et al., 2016; Fritz, 2017). Given their keystone role, wider
biodiversity conservation goals require maintaining healthy
populations of elephants throughout their ranges in Asia and
Africa.
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF
HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT
Human-elephant conflict is a major challenge for supporting the
survival and persistence of elephants in their range countries
because these are places where the development and well-being of
human communities sharing space with these mega-herbivores
is also important. As humans transform the landscape, pushing
human and elephant populations to live in ever closer proximity,
the likelihood of conflict increases with often fatal results. India
alone reports annual deaths of 400 people and 100 elephants
during conflict incidents, with additional direct effects to 500,000
families through crop raiding (MOEF, 2010). Sri Lanka annually
documents over 70 human and 200 elephant mortalities from
conflict (Santiapillai et al., 2010; Fernando and Pastorini, 2011).
Illegal poaching for the ivory trade complicates calculations for
elephant losses in Africa. However, Kenya reports that 50–120
problem elephants are shot by wildlife authorities each year and
that about 200 people died in human-elephant conflict between
2010 and 2017 (Mariki et al., 2015). Other Asian and African
range countries document similar or worse consequences (e.g.,
Graham et al., 2009a; Saaban et al., 2011; Webber et al., 2011;
Tchamba and Foguekem, 2012; Chen et al., 2013; Mariki et al.,
2015; Sarker et al., 2015; Acharya et al., 2016; Pant et al., 2016).
Elephant conservation efforts have thus expanded their focus
over time from reducing habitat damage and loss of elephant
lives to ivory poaching and trafficking to managing the potential
for human-elephant conflict resulting from increased space and
resource competition (Caughley, 1976; Douglas-Hamilton, 1987;
Caughley et al., 1990; Kangwana, 1995; Sukumar, 2006; Hoare,
2015).
Many of the world’s 1.2 billion people who live on <$1.25 USD
per day reside in Asian and African elephant range countries.
These regions are also experiencing human population growth
of 1–3% per year in Asia and 1–3.5% per year in sub-Saharan
Africa (World Bank, 2018). As some of the planet’s poorest
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
FIGURE 1 | Map of global elephant species ranges. Land cover based on mode value of 500-m resolution NASA MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1),
2000–2016. (Elephant population data from Friedl et al., 2010; IUCN, 2017).
people, these marginalized communities increasingly compete
with other species, like elephants, for space and resources. Low-
income subsistence farmers often live near forests and PAs due
to limited arable land, minimal to no irrigation access, and
cultural ties to PA landscapes. Accessing resources in these forests
and PAs supports a more diversified livelihood portfolio and
offers subsistence households resources to meet their basic needs
(Riddle et al., 2010; Angelsen et al., 2014; Babigumira et al., 2014).
Additionally, many rural communities move closer to more
permanent water sources during dry periods to ensure stable
water access for their household needs, crops, and livestock.
Yet competition for increasingly scarce water sources and other
resources during and/or after droughts increases the risk of
conflict between elephants and humans (Osborn, 2004; Ntumi
et al., 2005; Graham et al., 2009a; Shaffer and Naiene, 2011;
Sitienei et al., 2014; Mariki et al., 2015). Poverty also reduces
household coping ability and adaptive capacity to respond to
harvest losses by crop-raiding elephants (Eriksen and Silva, 2009;
Snyman, 2014; Nsonsi et al., 2017), which further undermines
conservation efforts by engendering animosity and intolerance
toward elephants.
Similar to elephants, humans are also ecosystem engineers and
greatly influence their surrounding landscape. Their livelihood
activities limit elephant home range and population density
through direct and indirect competition for water, food, and
space (de Beer and van Aarde, 2008; Alfred et al., 2012;
Hoare, 2015; Bi et al., 2016). Research in Zimbabwe suggests
that elephant populations will co-exist to varying degrees
with human communities until a threshold of about 15–20
people/km2is reached (Hoare and Du Toit, 1999). At this
point, the habitat loss and fragmentation accrued from a 40–
50% transformation of the landscape for human livelihood
activity use renders the area unfit for elephants. Farmers and
pastoralists alter biophysical dynamics and habitat patterns
through subsistence agricultural production and management
of key natural resources (Shaffer, 2010; McHale et al., 2013).
Cutting trees and burning to clear land for agricultural expansion
and improve livestock forage may draw elephants to patches
of new vegetative growth (Shaffer, 2010; Babigumira et al.,
2014). Planting fields adjacent to water sources and digging
holes to access groundwater may alter elephant migration routes.
Fencing agricultural areas and PAs to minimize crop raiding
and protect vegetation from grazing and trampling intensifies
livestock grazing in human settlement areas and elephant
feeding inside PAs, while restricting movement of both humans
and elephants (Campos-Arceiz et al., 2008; Guldemond and
Van Aarde, 2008; Riddle et al., 2010). The combined results
of these livelihood activities confine elephant herds to small
patches of minimally-developed lands and PAs that restrict
natural migration patterns, increasingly deprive elephants of
their preferred forage, and contribute to biodiversity losses
in small to medium-sized PAs due to concentrated elephant
foraging.
Habitat fragmentation fuels human-elephant conflict
potential, as roads and farms surrounding fragmented feeding
grounds are more conflict prone (Fernando et al., 2005). In
the most common form of human-elephant conflict, crop-
raiding elephants forage in agricultural fields to meet dietary
requirements (e.g., Sukumar, 1990; Williams et al., 2001; Sitati
et al., 2003; Graham et al., 2010; Sitienei et al., 2014; Goswami
et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2016). Growing evidence suggests that crop
raiding peaks near harvest time, potentially provoking retaliatory
killings in response to high crop losses that threaten the survival
of farming households (Chen et al., 2006; Graham et al., 2010;
Webber et al., 2011; Gubbi, 2012). Although crop depredation
and human casualties are the most commonly reported and
publicized costs of conflict (Ngure, 1995; Lahm, 1996; He et al.,
2011; Nath et al., 2015), hidden costs in the form of diminished
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
psychosocial well-being and disrupted social activities raise
additional concerns (Jadhav and Barua, 2012; Barua et al., 2013).
These physical and hidden costs make it difficult to impossible
for people to develop an appreciation for and tolerance of
elephants living in their community.
CONFLICT PREVENTION AND MITIGATION
STRATEGIES
Conflict Prevention Strategies
Much of the effort aimed at addressing conflict has focused
on prevention by keeping humans and elephants separated. In
this section, we first describe exclusionary methods. We then
discuss additional methods commonly used by land managers
and farmers to prevent conflict. Although we review methods
individually; in practice, managers frequently combine multiple
techniques, and change strategies over time as elephants will test
enacted measures to gain access to desired resources.
Exclusionary Methods
Protected areas and ecological corridors
Through the establishment of PAs and efforts of conservationists
and wildlife managers, wildlife conservation has become
synonymous with the physical separation of humans and wildlife
(Rodrigues et al., 2004; Hansen and DeFries, 2007). Ecological
corridors stitch together fragmented habitat and isolated PAs,
facilitate connectivity between herds, offer demographic rescue
effects, and enhance gene flow (Brown and Kodric-Brown,
1977; Hanski, 1998; Blanc, 2008; Rabinowitz and Zeller, 2010).
Corridors that account for the ecological needs and ethological
characteristics of both humans and elephants help to prevent
human-elephant conflict by providing elephants additional
routes for seasonal migration and assisting ranging behavior
for resources and water (Adams et al., 2017). While ecological
corridors are gaining popularity in Asia and Africa (Roever
et al., 2013; Pittiglio et al., 2014; Adams et al., 2017; Puyravaud
et al., 2017), development pressures and infrastructure expansion
in or surrounding elephant ranges are commonly executed
without concern for ecological impact, resulting in opposition
to plans for, and needs of, corridor construction (Johnsingh and
Williams, 1999; Pan et al., 2009). Moreover, ecological corridors,
or even fencing for a PA, may contribute to “green grabbing,”
whereby subsistence farmers lose access to privately-owned or
communally-held arable lands along elephant migration routes
that are fenced off to reduce conflict between humans and
elephants without fair compensation (Fairhead et al., 2012;
Thakholi, 2016). Thus, a more robust understanding of human-
driven land use change and a greater concern for its impacts on
elephant habitat, connectivity, and migratory patterns needs to
be considered.
Electric fences and trenches
Physical exclusion methods such as electric fences and trenches
are commonly used to deter elephants from entering farmland
and human settlements. Substantial costs of construction
and long-term maintenance confer challenges for larger scale
application of these physical barriers, especially in fragmented
landscapes with high forest/farm frontage (Kioko et al., 2008;
Perera, 2009; Wijayagunawardane et al., 2016). Long-term
effectiveness may be further hindered by design, responses to
reports of fence breaks and fence-breaking animals, and overall
PA enforcement and management (Graham et al., 2009b; Massey
et al., 2014). Studies show that once African elephants learn
that their tusks do not conduct electricity, they may use their
tusks to break an enclosing electric fence, resulting in costly
damage to the fence (Graham et al., 2009a; Mutinda et al.,
2014). Physical barriers also negatively affect long-term survival
by further isolating already fragmented elephant populations,
disrupting movement, and access to seasonal food and water
resources, and impeding gene flow between herds (Lee and
Graham, 2006). Fencing effectiveness remains largely unexplored
in Asia.
Other Methods
Acoustic deterrents
Farmers guard crops and scare away crop-raiding elephants by
yelling, setting off firecrackers or carbide cannons, hitting metal
objects, and throwing stones (Nyhus et al., 2000; Fernando et al.,
2005; Gunaryadi et al., 2017). These techniques are effective in
keeping elephants away from crops (Hedges and Gunaryadi,
2010; Davies et al., 2011), but they disrupt psychosocial well-
being and livelihood activities of farmers (Tchamba, 1996; Nath
et al., 2009; Jadhav and Barua, 2012; Barua et al., 2013). High tech
acoustic deterrents remain problematic too. Audio playbacks
of threatening sounds like wild cat growls, human shouts, and
vocalizations from elephant matriarchal groups have only been
tested as short-term and short-distance elephants repellents
(Thuppil and Coss, 2016; Wijayagunawardane et al., 2016). Some
studies show that elephants quickly learn to tolerate these sounds
and return to raid crops (Sikes, 1971; Moss, 1988). Moreover,
the installation and regular monitoring and maintenance of these
playback systems present logistical challenges in remote areas.
Although reportedly 65–100% effective in the tests performed
(Thuppil and Coss, 2016), the potentially negative feedbacks of
audio playbacks on other species merit further assessment before
wider adoption (Gamage and Wijesundara, 2014; Zeppelzauer
et al., 2015). Recent studies in Africa show promising results
using bio-acoustic methods such as beehive fences to deter
elephants, and have the added benefit of providing pollinators
and honey (King et al., 2011, 2017).
Light-based deterrents
Farmers may light bonfires and use flaming torches or flashlights
to guard ripening crops and deter raiding elephants (Nyhus
et al., 2000; Fernando et al., 2005; Shaffer, 2010; Davies et al.,
2011). Solar spotlights, which are shone in elephants’ eyes to
drive them away from agricultural fields, have been tested on a
limited basis for communal fields; however, initial purchase costs
prevent widespread adoption by low-income rural households
and communities (Davies et al., 2011; Gunaryadi et al., 2017).
Like the acoustic methods, light-based deterrents are short-term
solutions which lose effectiveness over the long-term as elephants
adapt to the deterrent or move to a different location (Sukumar,
1991, 1992).
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
Agriculture-based deterrents
In comparison to exclusion, acoustic, and light methods,
agriculture-based deterrents like chili-grease covered fences and
chili dung have had limited testing and use (Graham et al.,
2009a; Hedges and Gunaryadi, 2010; Chang’a et al., 2016).
Existing field tests show wide variation in the effectiveness of
chili deterrents from no effect to some reduction of crop-raiding
(Sitati and Walpole, 2006; Graham et al., 2009a; Hedges and
Gunaryadi, 2010). Furthermore, high costs for application and
maintenance make this technique economically prohibitive for
many communities (Baishya et al., 2012). Another agriculture-
based deterrent involves the spatial strategy of interspersing
commonly raided crops with crops that are less attractive
or palatable to elephants (Santiapillai and Read, 2010; Gross
et al., 2016, 2017). In addition to serving as repellents, these
alternative crops including chamomile, coriander, mint, ginger,
onion, garlic, lemongrass, and citrus trees can economically
benefit farmers by compensating for reduced cultivation of main
crops. While fences smeared with chili powder and small-scale
cultivation of elephant-unfriendly unpalatable crops to buffer
out crop raiding elephants from main crops are the commonly
reported form of agriculture-based deterrents (Osborn, 2002;
Chang’a et al., 2016), commercial cultivations of chilis and other
less attractive crops in large scale do not appear to be tested
yet. Besides driving away the elephants because of their repellant
nature, such large-scale cultivation could benefit the farmers
economically (Parker and Osborn, 2006). Buying back guarantee
of such commercially cultivated alternative crops is necessary,
however, for the continuity of the approach if functioned
effectively. Regardless of scale of the cultivation of alternative
crops, they are yet highly likely to be trampled during the growing
stage. In general, economic losses from crop-raiding deserve
greater consideration, since proper and timely compensation
could contribute to an increased tolerance toward elephants and
acceptance of agriculture-based deterrents (Gross et al., 2017).
Early detection and warning
Techniques for early detection and warning of elephants involve
using mobile phones for quick communication among farmers,
and between farmers and local officials, to facilitate cooperation
in driving away potentially problematic elephants (Graham et al.,
2012). Early warning systems may also incorporate the placement
of detectors at conflict-prone locations to monitor infrasonic
calls that elephants use to enable detection and localization
of individuals over long distances (Venkataraman et al., 2005;
Poshitha et al., 2015; Zeppelzauer et al., 2015). These devices,
however, require internet connectivity or network coverage
to transfer alerts to farmers, which limits the practicality of
infrasonic receivers in remote areas (Poshitha et al., 2015).
Similarly, satellite tracking of radio-collared elephants facilitates
early warning of potentially problematic individuals and herds
(Venkataraman et al., 2005). While collected data are helpful
for understanding the movement patterns and habitat selection
of elephants, the value of satellite tracking in human-elephant
conflict prevention is thus far limited due to the initial challenges
of capturing and collaring elephants, and sometimes considerable
subscription costs for regular data transfer to research facilities.
Conflict Mitigation Strategies
After a human-elephant conflict event, affected farmers, and local
communities may demand a response from government agencies
or non-governmental organizations that deal with elephant
conservation to mitigate future conflict. Below, we first review
the domestication, culling, and translocation of problematic
individual elephants or herds. We then discuss conflict mitigation
programs that economically compensate farmers for lost crops or
lives.
Domestication
Domestication practices in Asia have long served to remove
or reduce human-elephant conflict pressures. Although Asian
elephants can breed in captivity, it is preferred to capture
and train wild females (Clutton-Brock, 2012). Once captured
and domesticated, Asian elephants have integrated into human
society serving in temples and at community festivities,
transporting people and heavy loads for agriculture, warfare, and
hunting, and helping to capture other wild elephants. Indian
records show that domestication practices date back to ∼4,500
BCE, and cave paintings suggest even earlier dates (Sukumar,
2008; Clutton-Brock, 2012). Asian elephant domestication
continues today although the practice is declining. History
documents Hannibal’s use of elephants to cross the Alps in 218
BCE, yet large-scale domestication of African elephants ended
around 2000 years ago(Sukumar, 2008; Clutton-Brock, 2012).
The loss of these positive human-elephant connections in local
communities and productive management of wild populations
likely contributes to human-elephant conflict and the associated
negativity toward species conservation. However, domestication
remains problematic as negative impacts on captive as well as
wild elephant welfare are well documented (Bist et al., 2002;
Leimgruber et al., 2008; Duffy and Moore, 2010; Mar et al., 2012)
and preferences for females may alter gene pools.
Culling
Consistently problematic elephants, including those that have
killed humans, are frequently culled to resolve resentments and
prevent future clashes and losses in communities in both Asia
and Africa. Contrary to Asia’s focus on domestication, the culling
of crop raiding elephants or those that kill humans has been
regularly practiced in Africa to manage elephant populations
and human-elephant conflict (Sukumar, 1991, 1992). African
culling practices have historic roots in both pre-Colonial and
Colonial elephant hunting, where the practice reduced resource
competition, supported food security by providing meat to
affected communities, and offered ivory for trade. As the African
ivory trade grew, culling for mitigation expanded into more
widespread killing of elephants for ivory in southern and eastern
Africa. By the late nineteenth century ivory hunting severely
reduced elephant populations and supported colonial settlement
and an expansion of agricultural cultivation (Ballard, 1981;
Beinart, 1990; Forssman et al., 2014).
Although current estimates of annually culled elephants are
largely unknown, selective culling of elephants is acceptable
and periodically practiced in many elephant range countries.
The efficacy and necessity of culling for maintaining elephant
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
populations and mitigating conflict is controversial and
questionable, as culling mainly targets bull elephants because
of their wide territorial ranges that bring them close to human
settlements (Sukumar, 1991, 1992; van Aarde et al., 1999). Given
the endangered and/or vulnerable status of elephants, as well
as skewed sex ratio due to ivory poaching, culling potentially
degrades the genetic health of remaining albeit fragmented
elephant populations.
Translocation
Translocation involves the drugging, immobilization, and
transportation of problematic elephants from human settlements
or farms to PAs for release (Nyhus et al., 2000; Massei et al.,
2010; Saaban et al., 2011; Fernando et al., 2012). Although
the efficacy and long-term feedbacks of elephant translocation
have not been extensively tested, initial results suggest that
translocated elephants often return to their original territory
and tend to propagate conflict around the release area while
returning toward their original home range (Pinter-Wollman,
2009; Fernando et al., 2012). Moreover, translocation often
undermines conservation goals because of increased elephant
mortality during capture and transportation, and sometimes
deliberate killing in the release area (Pinter-Wollman, 2009;
Fernando and Pastorini, 2011; Fernando et al., 2012).
Compensation
More market-based strategies for mitigating human-elephant
conflict provide financial compensation to those affected. The
perceptions and attitudes of people who inhabit conflict-
prone areas are crucial to the management of human-elephant
conflicts (Adams and Hutton, 2007; Treves and Bruskotter,
2014), and offsetting economic losses plays a major role
in building positive attitudes toward wildlife and fostering
tolerance toward elephants (Sodhi et al., 2010; Hartter and
Goldman, 2011; Brooks et al., 2013; Hartter et al., 2014;
Snyman, 2014). Requesting compensation involves reporting the
property damage and/or loss to park officials or an authorized
local body; followed by a visual assessment of damage by the
authorities. The lack of standardized assessment guidelines and
compensation approaches creates opportunities for conflict and
corruption (Ogra and Badola, 2008). Compensation schemes
often target the market price for victims’ crops and livestock
losses without recognition of opportunity costs of conflict
mitigation and transaction costs of getting compensation, or
the hidden costs of declined psychosocial and social well-being
(Hoare, 2000; Ogra, 2008). Difficulties also exist in placing
economic value on, and providing adequate compensation
for, humans injured or killed by elephants. Examples of
successful compensatory programs that increased tolerance
toward aggressive wildlife exist elsewhere (Nyhus et al., 2000;
Bruner et al., 2001), yet compensatory programs have not been
similarly successful for human-elephant conflict. In elephant
range countries, compensatory programs face often severe
criticism due to insufficient compensation, logistical challenges,
ineffective governance, a lack of transparency, reduced local
understanding of program scope, and limitations, and fraudulent
claims (Naughton-Treves et al., 2003; Bulte and Rondeau, 2005;
Nyhus et al., 2005; Ogra and Badola, 2008; Nath et al., 2009).
Building on successful models, and with a knowledge of factors
leading to compensation program failures, future compensatory
programs should be adapted and strengthened for inclusion in a
suite of management tools. Yet, economic compensation for the
damage incurred does not address the underlying root causes of
the conflict, and thus do not appear to be a viable or sustainable
solution.
A CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR REDUCING
AND MITIGATING HUMAN ELEPHANT
CONFLICT
On-going and future changes to land use, conservation policy,
economic markets, and climate challenge the efficacy of current
human-elephant conflict prevention and mitigation strategies.
These and other disturbances increase the dependency of both
species on a shared but shrinking resource base (Otiang’a-Owiti
et al., 2011; Im et al., 2017). Effective strategic planning that
seeks to support the mutual well-being of humans and elephants
centers on their coexistence rather than their conflict, addresses
underlying conflict drivers and their spatial variation, and
considers the intersecting and evolving needs of both humans
and elephants (Peterson et al., 2010; Chartier et al., 2011;
Madhusudan et al., 2015; Dubois et al., 2017). Building on
prior work, we contribute a conceptual model (Figure 2) of a
coupled natural and human systems approach that focuses on
promoting peaceful co-existence and reducing conflict through
landscape-level planning informed by open-data and tools along
with ethnographic data and community-based education and
mitigation approaches. Our model draws upon theories and
analytical methods from anthropology, ecology, geography,
remote sensing, climate science, and spatial statistics to assess
the needs of both humans and elephants, as well as the spatio-
temporal variability of the resources on which both species
depend.
Given the central role of resource competition in human-
elephant conflict, our model highlights patterns of water
and vegetation quality and quantity across space and time.
Precipitation events and processes such as storms, seasonal
climate patterns, interannual cycles, and long-term climate
changes underpin natural landscape dynamics by driving
changes to surface and groundwater sources including lakes,
rivers, and aquifers. Seasonal climate parameters including
precipitation, temperature, and photosynthetically active
radiation affect vegetation patterns across the landscape, while
external disturbances like global climate changes will shift
landscape vegetation dynamics over the long-term. Greenness
and the location of preferred vegetation and specific plant
species, along with surface water availability, influences land use
and species’ movement as elephants migrate seeking food and
water and humans pursue livelihood activities.
Local, national, and international policies regarding land use
and resource conservation regulate the location and intensity
of human livelihood activities like subsistence agriculture,
pastoralism, and foraging, as well as the resources accessed
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
FIGURE 2 | Human and elephant population variables drawn from a multitude of coupled system components and processes. Additional information for variables is
provided in the text.
for these activities by households and communities. Resource
preferences for particular types of wild plant materials, potable
water sources, and arable, fertile soil also influence household
decision-making about livelihood activities and locations.
Pressing globalization forces connected to and through local
markets affect supply, demand, and prices for foods and
other goods that cannot be produced at the household level.
Policy creation and market shifts act as pulse disturbances by
motivating local community adaptation to new resource use
regulations and access. Footpaths and roads link households
within and across communities, and the wider world. These paths
conduct goods and services, connect households to livelihood
practice spaces, and facilitate human, and sometimes elephant,
migration.
Biophysical processes and livelihood practices intersect with
species population dynamics to generate the conditions leading
to human-elephant conflict. Elephant herd sizes, densities,
growth rates, and regular movements directly impact conflict
locations, timing, and intensity (Goswami et al., 2014; Chen et al.,
2016; Goswami and Vasudev, 2017). This intensity includes the
perceived risks to human well-being, as well as the amount of
damage a household or community sustains and the ability to
sustain future conflict damage. Although conflict events often
unfold as pulsed disturbances in agricultural fields at the end of
the growing season, wild plant use or access of water sources
by elephants can also lead to conflict in situations where wild
plants or water sources are shared with humans. On the other side
of the conflict equation, human population dynamics directly
influence land use and resource access during livelihood activities
as a form of press disturbance, although burn practices to
manage landscapes are pulse events. Historic shifts to livelihood
practices due to sociocultural, economic, political, climate, and
biophysical changes inform decision-making about land use
and resource access, conflict responses, perceived risks, and
ultimately the sustainability of any plans undertaken to reduce
or prevent future conflict. Site specific information regarding
perceptions of elephants and the costs of conflict identify areas
where mitigation and educational programs may be reconfigured
or new opportunities introduced that allow communities to
benefit from an elephant presence to build tolerance and increase
appreciation for elephants. Acquiring this information requires
an objective, “boots on the ground” approach to observe and
learn about community needs and decision-making practices,
as well as identify residents that can lead the co-development,
co-implementation, and co-management of long-term, conflict
reduction strategies in their communities.
Conservation and long-term sustainability of co-existing
human and elephant populations therefore depends upon the
adaptive capacity, resilience, and vulnerability of a variety of
biophysical and social components, and the processes that link
them together, within a coupled natural and human system.
Our conceptual model focuses on resource competition and the
resulting conflict for water, food, and space between humans and
elephants. It also addresses press and pulse disturbance processes
influencing this human-elephant resource competition (Collins
et al., 2011). Once conflict hotspots and areas of shared
resource use are identified through landscape modeling that
integrates natural and human systems information, alternative
strategies may be proposed. Strategies could include digging
new wells and installing bore holes for human communities
or creating new water sources along known elephant migration
paths that could divert these animals away from human
areas, to support adequate water access during dry periods.
Communities could work with government agencies and NGOs
to co-develop policies and programs that protect important
elephant range areas and ecological corridors while supporting
human well-being by offering new economic opportunities and
ensuring access to culturally important resources in a sustainable
manner.
CONCLUSIONS
Human-elephant conflict remains a significant problem for
many communities in Asia and Africa, threatens human
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Shaffer et al. Human-Elephant Conflict
lives, livelihoods, and local communities, and drives habitat
degradation and elephant population declines. Current
strategies to manage human-elephant conflict largely focus
on either physical separation, or mitigating the problem by
domesticating, translocating, or culling problematic elephants
and/or compensating farmers. While these tools remain
important conflict management strategies, the majority appear
to be driven by short-term, site-specific factors that often transfer
the problems of human-elephant conflict from one place to
another. In this paper, we reviewed causes and consequences of
human-elephant conflict, and current approaches to preventing
and mitigating human-elephant conflict. We then proposed a
conceptual model that recognizes the competition for water,
land, and plant resources between these species, and seeks
to identify conflict hotspots and alternative resource access
options for effective land management now and in the future.
We highlighted the application of ecological, anthropological,
and geographical knowledge and tools for developing long-term
sustainable solutions to this complex problem, and hope our
conceptual model provides guidance for future research focus.
The diverse data needed to build out our conceptual
model require interdisciplinary cooperation to synthesize
multiple historic, contemporary, and projected datasets from
the biophysical and social sciences. While biophysical data may
already be in a form that readily lends itself to landscape
level modeling and planning, integration of ethnographic
information will likely involve more effort including extensive
social science fieldwork in conflict-prone communities. However,
understandings of how people living in or near conflict prone
areas use natural resources, and how they make decisions about
current and future resource use, remains key to addressing the
underlying drivers of human-elephant conflict and their spatial
variation. Without this knowledge, the task of resolving human-
elephant conflict and finding a means for these species to coexist
in the Anthropocene is sisyphean.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
LS, KN, and JV designed the conceptual model, all authors
contributed equally to the writing of the manuscript.
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