february 2022
How can we help improve
human-elephant conflict?
Authors:
Christie Sampson, Shari Rodriguez, and others
Associate editors:
Liesa Ziegler and Alexandra Appleton
Abstract
When humans and wildlife share the same areas, they can To understand more about these types of conflict, we did
come into conflict over resources. This is called human- interviews with rural people in Myanmar. The results of this
wildlife conflict. This can be a big problem when the study will help wildlife managers find ways for elephants
wildlife in question are large mammals (like tigers, lions, or and people to live side-by-side with less conflict!
elephants). Can you imagine living alongside such giants?
Introduction
The Asian elephant is an endangered species with only an alongside elephants. The direct impacts include losing
estimated 20,000-40,000 individuals left in the wild. One crops or facing damage to property. But people can also
of the biggest problems is that humans are taking up more experience indirect impacts. One example is extreme stress
and more of the elephant’s natural habitats each year. This from being afraid of elephants. Also, some people may not
limits the resources elephants need to survive. With less be able to travel or go to school because of the risk of
space to move around, people and elephants have to live coming face to face with an elephant. Understanding both
closer together. This can sometimes lead to either humans the direct and indirect impacts of human-wildlife conflict
or elephants being injured or killed. is important. Then we can help people find solutions to
feel safer around their giant neighbors. If people feel less
Myanmar is one of the last, and best, places for Asian
threatened, they may be more willing to actively support
elephants to survive. It has the most habitat left out of all
elephant conservation programs. Our hope is that, one day,
the countries where Asian elephants live. But there are also
humans and elephants can respectfully coexist.
a lot of people living in rural areas in Myanmar. Many of them
are farmers who grow crops to make a living. Elephants
living there often try to eat the crops, like rice or cashew
nuts, since they are an easy source of food. Farmers have
to guard their crops (especially at night) to keep them safe
from elephants. They use firecrackers, flashlights, or loud An Asian elephant
shouting to try to scare elephants away. Sometimes this Photo: Christie Sampson
works, but other times the elephants become desensitized
to these methods or feel threatened. A threatened elephant
may charge people or destroy fences, crops, and sometimes
homes.
Before we can fix a problem as big as human-wildlife
conflict, we need to understand how it impacts people.
Our study identified the problems that people face living
Мore free environmental science resources аt: www.ScienceJournalForKids.org 1
february 2022
HOW CAN WE HELP IMPROVE HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT?
Methods
We used a structured questionnaire (translated into Burmese) 1. Their background (for example, what their job was and
and went to two rural areas in Myanmar (Figure 1). We met how long they had lived in the area).
the leaders of each village we visited and asked for their
2. Their knowledge about elephants.
permission to talk to the people in their community about
living near elephants. We then interviewed 381 people in 44 3. Their experiences with elephants.
villages to learn about:
We analyzed the data and used percentages to show how
many people had similar answers. 100% represents all the
people that took part in our study.
Figure 1:
We conducted a survey in Myanmar with people who lived in villages
near wild elephants.
Villages where interview
surveys were conducted
Myanmar Asian
elephant range
Results
We found that many people experienced direct impacts. with elephants, only 16% felt like they knew how to act
Around one in three people had been chased at least once safely near wild elephants to avoid conflict.
by a wild elephant.
A common effort to prevent elephants from raiding crops is
14% had their home damaged by elephants. to stay up all night to guard them. This means that villagers
3% of people had a family member killed by wild elephants. may not be getting enough sleep, which can cause medical
2% had been hurt by elephants. problems. It can also give them less time for other important
things in life, such as looking after their own children. The
But almost everyone (99%) had experienced indirect
villagers believed that their children had a lower quality of
impacts from conflict with elephants. Most people commonly
life because they were afraid of elephants. Over a quarter
feared for the safety of their family and that their crops or
(26%) reported that their children were unable to attend
houses would be destroyed. Despite frequent interactions
school when elephants were near their homes (Figure 2).
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HOW CAN WE HELP IMPROVE HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT?
Despite these challenges, it was extremely encouraging to elephants are a key part of the cultures and religions of
find that villagers expressed strong support for the protection Myanmar and important for the health of the ecosystem.
of elephants and elephant habitat. Many people stated that
PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO...
Figure 2: ...have children who cannot attend school
Nearly everybody living near wild when elephants are near
elephants is affected by them at
some point in their life.
...were somehow affected by elephants
during their life
What percentage of children
living in these areas in ...knew how to act when near a wild elephant
Myanmar are sometimes
unable to go to school because ...had a family member killed by an elephant
of elephants? Can you say
roughly how many of your
...were hurt by an elephant
classmates would not be able
to come to school if you all
lived near wild elephants? ...had their home destroyed by an elephant
...were chased by an elephant
0 20 40 60 80 100
Discussion
So, how do we reduce conflict between humans and more available. This will enable people to rebuild their
elephants? Government and conservation organizations homes and replant their crops.
often only look at the direct problems. This leaves out many Improving the quality of life for children (e.g. access to
of the indirect impacts. Actions that could help with these school when elephants are present).
indirect problems include:
Designing strategies for avoiding conflicts that take both
Working with communities to teach safe behavior around people and elephants into account.
elephants.
We hope that our study will help with managing these
Increasing access to medical services for people injured
conflicts. People are more likely to protect wild elephants if
by elephants.
they understand why elephants behave certain ways and if
Making construction material and agricultural supplies they have fewer negative experiences from living near them.
Conclusion
Sharing land with elephants can be difficult. But there is wildlife around the world. Zoos often have programs aimed
strong support for elephant conservation from rural villages at protecting wild animals. Organizations like Elephant
in Myanmar – and across the world! If you live near a Family and International Elephant Foundation also have
zoo, you could ask your parents or teacher if you can visit great projects you can explore. They aim to develop a more
it so that you can learn more about elephants and other peaceful coexistence between elephants and humans.
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HOW CAN WE HELP IMPROVE HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT?
Glossary of Key Terms
Burmese – Refers to the people of Myanmar in Asia and the main language spoken there.
Desensitized – Reacting less strongly than normal to feelings of pain, anxiety, stress, or suffering.
Habitat – A place or an area where an organism (plant or animal) naturally lives. It has the right conditions and resources
for that organism to survive.
Human-wildlife conflict – Any negative interaction between humans and animals. This often happens when animals
and humans live in the same area and have to share resources.
Check your understanding
1 About how many Asian elephants are left alive in the wild? Now compare this number
to the number of people living in your hometown.
2 How many participants in our study were actually injured by a wild elephant?
3 If you lived in a village near Asian elephants, what kind of problems could you expect
to have?
4 How can our study help humans and elephants coexist more peacefully?
5 Are there any human-wildlife conflicts in your area? Do you know how to act when
facing a wild animal living near your home?
REFERENCES
Christie Sampson, Shari Rodriguez, Peter Leimgruber, Qiongyu Huang, and David Tonkyn (2021) A quantitative
assessment of the indirect impacts of human-elephant conflict. PloS One.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253784
Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute: Asian Elephant Conservation
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/conservation-ecology-center/asian-elephant-conservation
WWF: Disappearing Wildlife in Myanmar
https://www.wwf.org.mm/en/disappearing_wildlife/
Acknowledgment: This article's adaptation was supported by Clemson University,
the Smithsonian Institution & U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
