Descriptive Spatial Analysis of Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) Distribution and Mapping HEC Hotspots in Keonjhar Forest Division, India

Bismay Ranjan Tripathy,Senipandi Kaliraj,Xuehua Liu,Lalit Kumar,W M S Wickramasinghe,Kirti Kumar Mahanta,Melissa Songer,Nilanjana Das Chatterjee

doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.640624

Abstract

Escalation of human-elephant conflict (HEC) in India threatens its Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) population and victimizes local communities. India supports 60% of the total Asian elephant population in the world. Understanding HEC spatial patterns will ensure targeted mitigation efforts and efficient resource allocation to high-risk regions. This study deals with the spatial aspects of HEC in Keonjhar forest division, where 345 people were killed and 5,145 hectares of croplands were destroyed by elephant attacks during 2001–2018. We classified the data into three temporal phases (HEC1: 2001–2006, HEC2: 2007–2012, and HEC3: 2013–2018), in order to (1) derive spatial patterns of HEC; (2) identify the hotspots of HEC and its different types along with the number of people living in the high-risk zones; and (3) assess the temporal change in the spatial risk of HEC. Significantly dense clusters of HEC were identified in Keonjhar and Ghatgaon forest ranges throughout the 18 years, whereas Champua forest range became a prominent hotspot since HEC2. The number of people under HEC risk escalated from 14,724 during HEC1 and 34,288 in HEC2, to 65,444 people during HEC3. Crop damage was the most frequent form of HEC in the study area followed by house damage and loss of human lives. Risk mapping of HEC types and high priority regions that are vulnerable to HEC, provides a contextual background for researchers, policy makers and managers.

Highlights

Rapid human population growth and over-exploitation of wildlife resources has degraded suitable habitats and threatened the survival of many wildlife species (Tischendorf and Fahrig, 2000; Fahrig, 2003; Rushton et al, 2006)
We found that human–elephant conflict (HEC) incidences in HEC1 (Figure 3A), HEC2 (Figure 3B), and HEC3 (Figure 3C) appeared to be more clustered than expected at distances greater than 1.8, 2, and 2.1 km, respectively
A summary of spatial weighted matrix of higher order queen contiguity for HEC1, HEC2 and HEC3 are listed in Supplementary Table 1

Summary

Introduction

Rapid human population growth and over-exploitation of wildlife resources has degraded suitable habitats and threatened the survival of many wildlife species (Tischendorf and Fahrig, 2000; Fahrig, 2003; Rushton et al, 2006). Descriptive Spatial Analysis of Human-Elephant Conflict safety of people (Jadhav and Barua, 2012; Li et al, 2018). Indian Elephants (Elephas maximus indicus), a subspecies of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) is a prime example of a species known for the highest wildlife damage in India, causing extensive damages to property and loss of human lives. The rest depend on small forest ranges under constant pressure from human encroachment Due to threats such as habitat degradation, human–elephant conflict (HEC), and poaching (Leimgruber et al, 2003; Hedges et al, 2005; Sukumar et al, 2016; Menon et al, 2017), Asian elephants are vested with the highest degree of Wildlife Protection under the Schedule-1 in India. Effective mitigation of HEC is a top conservation priority for this keystone species, in India (Karanth et al, 2012), and in the world (Chen et al, 2016)

Methods

Results

Conclusion