App that alerts humans to movement of wild elephants launched in India

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A northeastern state in India has launched a mobile app aimed at mitigating human-elephant conflict by alerting people to the movement of these animals around them.

The Haathi (elephant in Hindi) app, designed by local biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak in Assam, was launched over the weekend by the state’s cabinet minister for power, sports and youth welfare, Nandita Gorlosa.

The app is aimed at sharing early warning about the movement of wild elephants to help villagers avoid negative interface with the wild animals, said Aaranyak’s senior conservation scientist and the head of elephant research and conservation division, Bibhuti P Lahkar.

“The app will also have the ex-gratia application forms against damages caused due to depredition by wild elephants," he was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.

Explaining the function of the app, he said: “Once they install the app on their phones, they’ll have access to a large contact, and whenever they see elephants in their area, they can update the forest department about it quickly. This will help the people to be aware and the officials to take immediate action.”

Assam, home to 5,700 elephants, has the second highest elephant population in the country after Karnataka with 6,049. However, due to shrinking habitat from deforestation and development, the state is seeing a surge in human-elephant conflict.

At least 394 people have died between April 2019 and March 2024, reported the outlet.

According to official figures, 1,330 elephants died between 2001 and 2022, of which only 509 died of natural causes, reported the Telegraph India. Others were poisoned, electrocuted and poached, the outlet reported.

Extending state support to the initiative, Ms Gorlosa said this app would help in mitigating the human-animal conflict.

“We must learn to coexist,” said animal conservation activist Parbati Baruah as she appreciated the initiative. The state minister raised concerns about the illegal use of electricity to deter elephant movement, reported the Hindustan Times.

“The common people in some of the (human-elephant conflict) hotspots use illegal electric power connections against wild elephants out of fear, which sometimes leads to the death of elephants …. With the help of these two techniques, we can reduce such incidents.”