Theses and Dissertations

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    Ecological investigation of human-elephant conflicts in south-west Bengal.
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2006) Singh, Anil Kumar; Chowdhury, Sushant
    Human-elephant conflicts- perspective in Asia and Africa: a review” contains an account of human elephant conflicts and its negative interactions both for elephant and humans in Asia and Africa. This provides an illustrative account of sources of human elephant conflicts and different forms of negative interactions resulting damage to agriculture and plantations, damage to property, human kill and injuries, impact on ecosystems, killing of elephants and diseases transmissions. The modes of conflict management through ecological approach, habitat improvement, alternate crop strategies, deterrent, repellents and aversion, physical and pulsating barriers, acoustic deterrents and compensatory measures as adopted in Africa and Asia on both the genus of elephants are discussed and reviewed.
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    Ecology of elephants (Elephas maximus) and their interactions with humans in south West Bengal, India
    (SACON, 2023) Singh, Akriti; Kumara, H N
    The thesis delves into the intricate dynamics surrounding the range expansion of Asian elephants in South West Bengal, catalyzing heightened human-elephant conflicts. It meticulously outlines the evolution of this phenomenon, starting from the elephants' modest presence in the 1950s to their expansive spread across 13200 km² by 2010–18. Through structured surveys and field observations, the elephants' footprint has been delineated across 163 grid cells in the region, showcasing their adaptability to varied habitat conditions. Central to understanding this expansion is the interplay between habitat factors and elephant presence. The thesis elucidates how the elephants' utilization of grid cells correlates positively with the forest edge, forest area, agricultural area, and barren land. As forests recede and agricultural land expands, elephants find themselves increasingly encroaching upon human settlements, leading to heightened conflict situations. Population estimation methodologies, ranging from dung count surveys to distance sampling, shed light on the elephant demographic in the region. However, the thesis highlights the challenges inherent in accurately gauging elephant numbers, particularly in areas where human activities disrupt their natural movement patterns. Despite these hurdles, the presence of a substantial number of immature elephants signifies a thriving population, albeit one grappling with human-induced disturbances. The thesis also sheds light to the ecological intricacies of elephant habitat use and feeding behavior. By overlaying grid cells on selected elephant habitats and analyzing geo-coordinates, the intensity of elephant habitat utilization was ascertained. The elephants' dietary preferences, encompassing a diverse array of wild plant species alongside agricultural crops, underscore their adaptive prowess in navigating human-altered landscapes. However, this dietary reliance on crops exacerbates conflicts, as elephants frequently venture into agricultural fields, triggering retaliatory measures from local communities.
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    Patterns and Determinants of Elephant Habitat Use in a Mosaic Landscape in Northern Chhattisgarh
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Meshram, Kushagra; Pandav, Bivash; Nigam, Parag
    Habitat use is affected by a wide range of factors,like the amount of resources available, its distribution in space, quality of resource,presence and absence of limiting factors like roads and settlements. Increasing anthropogenic pressure has lead to the degradation of the habitat available to animals in the form fragmentation of forests, introduction of invasive species and reduction in the quality of the available forage. This in turns alters the composition and modify the natural systems. This modification of habitat may compel animals to alter the way they use it by adopting new strategies. On these lines, I did my study on assessing the factors that influence habitat use of elephants in a mosaic landscape in Northern Chhattisgarh. The study was carried out in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. This district is famous has been infamous for elephant conflict since 1900s. The problem has exacerbated due to rapid urbanisation, increasing population and alteration in land use. Today, it is one of the most human-elephant conflict affected area in country. This is a repercussion of wanton modification of natural habitat. How elephants are interacting with this modified habitat which is a matrix of remnant forest patches, agricultural areas and settlements is the crux of my study. In order to to study this, I selected a study area of 1200 square kilometres. As a part of the study I also followed two satellite Collared individuals(one living with a herd and the other, a solitary male) to understand spatiotemporal habitat use and ranging behaviour of elephants. I also collaborated with Indian Space and Research Organisation for my study. High resolution land-use maps were provided by ISRO for this study. The field work was carried out from 21st December 2018 to 15th April 2019. GIS based work was done in the GIS lab of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.