20 Introduction Conservation of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) ensures maintenance of large tracts of natural habitats that facilitate ecological functions and improve the quality of life of millions of people across India (Baskaran 2013). Expanding human populations and developmental activities have isolated elephant habitats of Western Ghats (Sukumar 1989), where the largest Asian elephant population in the world occurs. Asian elephants require larger areas of natural habitat than any other mammalian species in tropical Asia for survival, therefore are severely affected by development activities (Sukumar 1989). Human-elephant confict (HEC) has been an important issue for conservationists across the world (Lee et al. 1986). Being a conservation hotspot within a thickly populated region, HEC is very pronounced in the Western Ghats region. Elephants are among the most confict-prone wildlife species in India, causing large-scale damage to crops and human lives. Each year, nearly 400 people and 100 elephants are killed Research Article Gajah 45 (2016) 20-27 Human-Elephant Confict around North and South Forest Divisions of Nilambur, Kerala, India C. K. Rohini 1 *, T. Aravindan 1 , K. S. Anoop Das 2, 3 and P. A.Vinayan 4 1 Post Graduate Department of Zoology and Research Centre, Sree Narayana College, Kannur, Kerala, India 2 Centre for Conservation Ecology, Department of Zoology, M.E.S Mampad College, Kerala, India 3 Wildlife Research and Conservation Trust, Chungathara, Kerala, India 4 WWF-India, Western Ghats Nilgiris Landscape Offce, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author’s e-mail: rohinick4@gmail.com Abstract. We studied attitudes towards elephant conservation and human-elephant confict through a questionnaire survey of 239 forest fringe residents of Nilambur North and South Forest Divisions, Kerala. Respondents perceived restriction of free movement and crop damage as the most important problem. Confict increased in some areas during the rainy season due to failure of protection methods, and in others in the summer due to availability of water and fruiting trees in the forest fringes. In some areas confict occurred throughout the year because of perennial crops. Co-operative management of confict was supported by only 27.4% and most considered confict management as the exclusive responsibility of the Forest Department. Two thirds of the respondents expressed positive attitudes towards elephant conservation. in confict related instances in India, and nearly 500,000 families are affected by crop damage (MoEF 2010). HEC negatively affects people’s tolerance and thereby poses a challenge to the survival of elephants (Sarker & Roskaft 2010). Due to regular confict incidents people oppose ventures promoting conservation of elephants in the wild. It has been recognized that people residing in proximity to conservation areas make signifcant contributions towards the survival of elephants (Naughton-Treves 1998). Therefore it is necessary to understand the people’s opinion about the elephant confict and their attitudes towards conservation. Evaluation of people’s attitude towards wild elephants is also essential in formulating appropriate policies for conservation of the species (Hill 1998). The present study was carried out in the forest fringe regions of Nilambur North and South Forest Divisions, part of Southern Western Ghats. The objectives of this study was to understand (i) the impact of HEC on forest fringe residents (ii) seasonal patterns of confict (iii) temporal pattern of occurrence of confict and associated © 2016 The Authors - Open Access Manuscript Editor: Prithiviraj Fernando