Nature and extent of human–elephant Elephas
maximus conflict in central Nepal
G ANESH P ANT ,M AHESHWAR D HAKAL ,N ARENDRA M AN B ABU P RADHAN
F IONA L EVERINGTON and M ARC H OCKINGS
Abstract Human–elephant conflict is one of the main
threats to the long-term survival of the Asian elephant
Elephas maximus. We studied the nature and extent of
human–elephant interactions in the buffer zones of
Chitwan National Park and Parsa Wildlife Reserve in
Nepal, through household questionnaire surveys, key in-
formant interviews, site observations, and analysis of the re-
ported cases of damage during January –December
. During this -year period incidents of damage
by elephants were reported, with a high concentration of in-
cidents in a few locations. Property damage (%) was the
most common type of damage reported. Crop damage was
reported less often but household surveys revealed it to be
the most frequent form of conflict. There were also
human casualties, including deaths and four serious in-
juries. More than % of the human casualties occurred
during –. More than two thirds of the respondents
(%) perceived that human–elephant conflict had in-
creased substantially during the previous years. Despite
the increase in incidents of human–elephant conflict in
the area, % of respondents had positive attitudes towards
elephant conservation. Our findings suggest that public
awareness and compensation for losses could reduce con-
flict and contribute to ensuring coexistence of people and
elephants in this human-dominated landscape.
Keywords Buffer zone, Chitwan National Park, conservation,
human–elephant conflict, Nepal, Parsa Wildlife Reserve
Introduction
T
he Asian elephant Elephas maximus is categorized as
Endangered on the IUCN Red List (Choudhury et al.,
), mainly as a result of loss and fragmentation of its
habitat, and conflict with people (Sukumar, ). The
population of wild Asian elephants is estimated to be
,–,, and captive elephants number c. ,
(Sukumar, ). As human populations have increased,
the elephant population in most range countries has been
declining as a result of loss and degradation of forest habitat,
fragmentation of breeding populations and an increase in
human–elephant conflict (Hoare, ; Perera, ),
which are therefore priority areas of action for ensuring
long-term survival of wild elephants both in Asia and
Africa (Hoare, ; Sukumar, ). We follow Wilson
et al. () in referring to human–elephant conflict, but
note that the objective is to enhance human–elephant coex-
istence (Redpath et al., ).
Human–elephant interactions that have a negative effect
on people, elephants and the environment pose a challenge
for biodiversity conservation (Parker et al., ). In Nepal
% of land area falls within the protected area system
(DNPWC, ), and there is increasing likelihood of con-
flict as populations of wildlife, humans and livestock are in-
creasing. More than % of conflicts and % of human
casualties from interactions with wildlife in Nepal involve
human–elephant conflict (Bajimaya, ). People fear ele-
phants because they damage crops, destroy property, and
cause injury and death (Parker et al., ).
One of the predominant causes of human–wildlife con-
flict is the fear of being killed (Thirgood et al., ).
Damage caused by wildlife can affect people’s perceptions,
especially when it exceeds a certain level of tolerance (Hill,
). Attitudes of local people are important in wildlife
conservation and may vary according to gender, age, educa-
tion and past experiences (Hill, ; Røskaft et al., ).
Older people and those who have experienced damage
caused by wildlife generally have more negative attitudes,
whereas people with higher levels of education tend to be
more positive towards wildlife (Røskaft et al., ).
People living in rural areas were found to be more negative
towards wildlife conservation than those living in urban
areas, as they bear disproportionately the costs of damage
caused by wildlife (Bandara & Tisdell, ).
Wild elephants in Nepal occur in four isolated popula-
tions ranging over , km
of forest habitat in the low-
land Terai (DNPWC, ) and are estimated to number
– (DNPWC, ; Pradhan et al., ). The eastern
population comprises – individuals. In central Nepal the
population increased from an estimated individuals in
to in (Smith & Mishra, ) and there are
GANESH PANT* (Corresponding author) and MAHESHWAR DHAKAL Department of
National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, PO Box 860, Kathmandu, Nepal
E-mail ganeshpant@yahoo.com
NARENDRA MAN BABU PRADHAN Bird Conservation Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
FIONA LEVERINGTON and MARC HOCKINGS School of Geography, Planning and
Environmental Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
*Previously at: School of Geography, Planning and Environmental
Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Received September . Revision requested November .
Accepted March . First published online July .
Oryx, 2016, 50(4), 724–731 © 2015 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605315000381
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605315000381 Published online by Cambridge University Press