Reducing elephant conflict with people

Asian elephants once lived across most of Asia. Now they roam just 15% of their original range in fragmented and isolated populations around south and south-east Asia. Today, there are less than 52,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. Asian elephants are also listed as endangered species on the IUCN Red List.

Asian elephants differ from African elephants in various ways. They aren't as big as their African cousins and have proportionally smaller ears. Asian elephants are usually dark grey to brown, often with pink or yellow marks on their face, ears and trunk.

With our help, conflict between people and elephants around Corbett national park in India fell by 60% in just one year.

Some communities used solar fencing to protect cropland from marauding elephants. Others have stopped growing crops that attract elephants, like sugarcane, switching to crops that elephants don’t like but still have economic value, like mint.

This is a win-win situation. The villagers and their incomes are safer, and so are the elephants.

Elephants are very important grazers and browsers, eating vast amounts of vegetation every day, spreading seeds around as they go. They also help shape the often-thick vegetation of the Asian landscape.

By protecting the Asian elephant, we’re making sure they and their environment stay healthy and thriving.