Elephants in farmlands

As part of the Brahmagiri-Nilgiri Eastern Ghats elephant landscape, Wayanad makes for an interesting study site to understand human-elephant interactions (HEI). Its low-lying swamps and perennial streams make it harder to maintain barriers like fences and trenches.

Even in the drier seasons, it’s a critical habitat for elephants with its perennial commercial & non-commercial crops. It exhibits telltale signs of habitat fragmentation and degradation levels, diverse cultures, and the influence of wildlife and forest protection laws on its people and elephants.

In a recent study on Elephants in the farm–changing temporal and seasonal patterns of human-elephant interactions in a forest-agriculture matrix in the Western Ghats, India, authors N R Anoop, Siddhartha Krishnan and T Ganesh from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), assessed the drivers of HEIs in Wayanad.

The study conducted between 2019 and 2021 recommends better understanding and research of elephant behaviour, assessing the impact of forestry operations like plantations, controlling the spread of invasive species within forests and mandating local participation in decision-making.

The study

Semi-structured interviews with locals (156 households) and forest staff, two years of compensation claims data and identifying individual elephants causing interactions in Wayanad show an increase in HEIs in the area. This has resulted in farmers quitting food crops like paddy and vegetables and removing fruits like jackfruit and mangoes early. According to the authors, interactions in areas like the Chethalayan range are recent, and the immigrant farmers who now live in the area have minimal experience handling HEIs. Over 46% of farmers interviewed felt the interactions have increased in the past 11 to 15 years, and 54 % experienced interactions in all months of the year.

Though 68% of the locals have stopped planting crops palatable to elephants, “that has not stopped interactions. Elephants now move deeper into farmlands looking for food,” adds Anoop N R, lead author and research scholar at ATREE. Multiple factors add to this narrative of interactions - the growing elephant population, the influx of individuals from degraded habitats from larger landscapes, the ever-adapting and changing behaviour of the species, the distance of farmlands from forest boundaries and its nutritious crops, fragmented corridors, the establishment of monoculture plantations by forest departments to unabated growth of invasive species within the sanctuaries.

Excerpts from the interviews with locals add more perception to the findings. Ramachandran, a 65-year-old farmer from Tholpetty, explains, “Plantation areas (inside the forest) were covered with huge ancient trees (Veety, Venthekk, Venga, Anjali etc.) interspersed with bamboo (40-50 years ago). The forest department removed all the big trees and leased the area for teak plantation. Many private parties leased these lands and cultivated rice, ragi, or tapioca too. At that time, elephants were rare, and they were afraid of people. Conflict with elephants started recently. Now Senna spectabilis and Lantana camara are spreading inside the forest, and bamboo is completely gone. There is no food for elephants.” Anoop adds that around 30-40 % of the sanctuary is invaded by the exotic tree, Senna spectabilis.

The locals

A majority, 93 % of locals interviewed, expressed dissatisfaction with compensations and the complex and slow process. The primary conflict mitigation measure adopted by the forest department, electric fencing and trenching, doesn’t help opine 99 % of the locals.

Arun from Tholpetty says, “Nedunthana is a forest hamlet. We don’t have land records. We are not eligible to apply for compensation. We don’t have proper fencing or trenches to stop elephants from entering the village. We used to cultivate paddy in the vast swamp, but now it is impossible. We also fear coming out of home early mornings and nights due to elephants, especially during monsoons.”

Most interviewees have given up growing vegetables, fruits, or tubers. This consistent economic loss and impact on nutritional needs have also led to drastic choices. Nagendran B from Punjavayal, eager to sell his land, adds, “Elephants come in groups during the night. We want to sell this land and go, but no one is willing to buy our land because of the growing conflict.”

What next?

A resounding consensus among locals (97%) is how traditionally used methods, like shouting and using torches, crackers or drums, do not scare the elephants anymore. “I stopped cultivating paddy recently because of high conflict - the elephants have no fear anymore, and we don’t know what measures to use,” expressed local Jomon from Neykuppa in response to the survey.

“Our study shows that bulls are primarily involved in interactions, alone or in groups. Male elephants (in groups) involved in crop raiding indulge in risk-taking foraging strategies to improve their body condition for reproductive success,” explains Anoop. Over the last few years, two elephants were captured for captivity, “but that hasn’t solved the issue. Translocation does not help reduce interactions,” he adds, further stressing the urgency of studying elephant behaviour.

“Elephants are constantly adapting to changing habitats and challenges in human-dominated landscapes. They are an intelligent species, are continually learning, overcoming their fears, and teaching each other and hence, as termed by locals, seem bolder. Studying their behaviour and integrating this understanding in conflict management is crucial.”

Emphasising the need for dynamic, long-term solutions, the authors add, “In areas like Wayanad, setting up Wireless Integrated Sensor Networks, using network technology like mobiles, television as early warning systems, better and timely compensation and local participation in management are central.”