5th March 2019

In India, few animals carry the kind of cultural symbolism like elephants do. Human-elephant interaction boasts a rich history dating back centuries. It is but natural that such a long association would also have encounters that do not end happily.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Hassan in Karnataka, the state which is home to India’s largest population of Asian elephants. The Hassan region, however, has been beset by human-elephant conflicts for years with a number of these encounters resulting in fatalities. But, thanks to resilient conservation efforts and smart application of technology in recent months, Hassan could soon be at peace with its elephants.

Hassan and nearby districts sit at the edges of India’s iconic Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and global biodiversity hotspot which accounts for about 60 percent of Karnataka’s forest area. A fertile landscape comprising fragmented forest patches, coffee plantations and paddy fields, Hassan offers a rich and conducive topographical mosaic for elephants, a habitat generalist species known for travelling long distances.

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