By: Emma Dixon
July 2019 Trip to Coimbatore, India
Born and raised in Kansas, the breadbasket of the United States, where the main pests’ farmers worry about are insects, rodents and birds, I could never have imagined researching human elephant conflict.
Human elephant conflict (HEC) is the competition for shared resources that is mainly a result of the fragmentation and degradation of the Asian elephant’s habitat. This can often lead to a lack of food, water and space for the elephants.
India, home to a majority of Asian elephant population, witnesses several HEC incidents annually that results in both human and elephant casualties.
The farmers in and around Coimbatore, a city in Southern India has taken the brunt of the consequences as elephants commonly raid certain crops like coconut, plantain, sorghum, maize (corn), and areca nut for food, and other cash crops trampled.
Having their crops eaten by elephants causes great economic damage to the farmers who rely on their crops to support their families.
By talking to the farmers and villagers impacted by HEC and seeing the physical barriers they have built to protect their crops and properties, my understanding of this multidimensional issue grew.
There are so many different stakeholder viewpoints, some of the farmers viewing the elephant with understanding/respect and others with fear/dislike.
Learning more of the factors that have created this problem and could lead to its solution will take time, but I know that everything I learn through this project can be used on future issues that require an interdisciplinary solution.
I plan to visit this area in near future and collect more data to further my understanding of this problem. My future research and subsequent publications will allow the scientists and policymakers working on solutions to HEC to understand the issue in greater depth.
July 2019 Trip to Coimbatore, India
Born and raised in Kansas, the breadbasket of the United States, where the main pests’ farmers worry about are insects, rodents and birds, I could never have imagined researching human elephant conflict.
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| A coconut farm in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. It takes more than 20 years for the coconut trees to reach this height and provide consistent yield. Several trees can be damaged in during an elephant raid. |
Human elephant conflict (HEC) is the competition for shared resources that is mainly a result of the fragmentation and degradation of the Asian elephant’s habitat. This can often lead to a lack of food, water and space for the elephants.
India, home to a majority of Asian elephant population, witnesses several HEC incidents annually that results in both human and elephant casualties.
 |
| An employee at the local temple describes how elephants access the water in the tank. This footprint was left by an elephant only few hours before we visited this temple. |
Having their crops eaten by elephants causes great economic damage to the farmers who rely on their crops to support their families.
By talking to the farmers and villagers impacted by HEC and seeing the physical barriers they have built to protect their crops and properties, my understanding of this multidimensional issue grew.
There are so many different stakeholder viewpoints, some of the farmers viewing the elephant with understanding/respect and others with fear/dislike.
Learning more of the factors that have created this problem and could lead to its solution will take time, but I know that everything I learn through this project can be used on future issues that require an interdisciplinary solution.
 |
| With the villagers who described their experiences with elephant raids. |
I plan to visit this area in near future and collect more data to further my understanding of this problem. My future research and subsequent publications will allow the scientists and policymakers working on solutions to HEC to understand the issue in greater depth.
