Elephant-Human Conflict in the Western Duars of Northern West Bengal, India

 

Table of Contents

The Western Duars and the Elephant corridor 3

Zones in the Corridor 3

The conflict 4

What is the urgency of studying the situation? 4

Causes of the conflict 6

1. Habitat fragmentation 6

2. Indiscriminate killing or injuring of elephants in Nepal 7

3. Army establishments 7

4. The Siliguri-Alipurduar railway track 7

The railway system 7

Elephant casualties on the track 8

Seasonal mortality records 9

Hour-wise mortality records 9

High risk zones 9

Current conflict management practices 10

LATEST CONFLICT DATA 11

What needs to be done? 14

Conclusion 15

Works Cited 16

Annexures 17

Annexure 1: List of Elephants killed on Railway Tracks in North Bengal 17

Annexure 2: Following is the list of accidents occurred in and outside the recommended zones 19

 

Elephant-Human Conflict in the Western Duars of North Bengal

The Western Duars and the Elephant corridor

The Duars region at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas is a vast swathe of 8,800 sq km terai forests and plains divided by the Sankosh river into two parts, Eastern and Western Duars. Both were ceded by Bhutan to the British at the end of the Bhutan war (1864-’65). The Western Duars lies in the northern West Bengal state and is a lowland belt linking the Himalaya and the plains region. The Western Duars is an important centre of the tea industry.