Abstract
Here we report the context encounters of elephant attacks on humans in Bangladesh, during the period 1989 to 2012. Attack rates significantly increased over this study period. The proportion of encounters that caused deaths or injuries differed statistically significant between the two sexes (men more deaths), age groups (elder more deaths), time of the day (more deaths during night), place of casualty (more deaths outside forests), weapon used by elephants (more deaths when elephants were using both trunk and leg) and study sites. No difference was found between seasons, elephant group size, or financial status, occupation and household size of victims. Elephant family groups were mostly responsible for attacks in the north, while single bulls were more responsible in the southeast. The place of casualty (inside or outside forests), time of the day, gender and regions were all significant in explaining the variation in encounters which resulted in human deaths or injuries. Conflict mitigation approaches including incentive-, awareness-or training programs from the forest department could help to reduce the conflict between humans and elephants in Bangladesh.
Highlights
Humans are considered to be users of ecosystem services as forests and natural resources and conflict intensity between humans and wildlife is dependent on the level of resource utilisation, access and control priority (Hossain, 2008; Jones & Carswell, 2004; Robbins, 2012)
This study was mainly confined to the regions near the Rangamati Forest Reserve (RFR), Banshkhali Forest Reserve (BFR), Chaunti Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) and Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) based on their higher level of conflict vulnerability compared to other sites in the south-eastern region (Figure 1)
The proportion of the 224 encounters between humans and wild elephants which resulted in human deaths over the study period, was 76.8% (n = 172), while 23.2% (n = 52) caused human injuries
Summary
Humans are considered to be users of ecosystem services as forests and natural resources and conflict intensity between humans and wildlife is dependent on the level of resource utilisation, access and control priority (Hossain, 2008; Jones & Carswell, 2004; Robbins, 2012). The potential cost of living near a protected area is high when the concerned animals are large and dangerous, such as the Asian (Elephas maximus) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). In Bangladesh, the Asian elephant population is restricted to the south-eastern and northern forest areas. A trans-border movement of elephants into Bangladesh from Meghalaya and Assam in India and Myanmar has been observed. According to Sarker and Røskaft (2011), the size of the wild elephant population in Bangladesh varies between 150 and 200 animals. Wild elephants in Bangladesh can be divided into two categories, (i) a local migratory- and (ii) a trans-border migratory population. Local migratory elephants frequently visit different habitat patches in their home range at specific time intervals
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