Recurring elephant raids in Tripura’s Teliamura highlight shrinking forests, disappearing elephant corridors, habitat degradation and rising human-elephant conflict. Villagers face crop losses, damaged homes and sleepless nights as experts call for habitat restoration, corridor revival and sustainable conservation measures.
The recurring incursions of wild elephants into villages under Teliamura subdivision in Tripura’s Khowai district are increasingly being seen as a consequence of the shrinking forests and the gradual disappearance of the animals’ traditional migratory corridors due to expanding human settlements.
The affected villages, including Krishnapur, Champlai, Office Tilla and Chakmaghat, have become frequent destinations for elephant herds that venture into human habitations at night in search of food and water. Villagers say around 70 families in Krishnapur now spend sleepless nights, using torches, drums and tin containers to drive away the jumbos before they damage homes and crops.
Wildlife experts point out that elephants require vast stretches of uninterrupted forests to survive. An adult Asian elephant consumes about 150–250 kg of vegetation per day. A large adult bull can eat up to 250–300 kg of grasses, bamboo, leaves, bark, fruits, and roots in a day under favourable conditions. They also drink 100–200 litres of water daily, and sometimes more during hot weather. Understandably, a herd generally comprises seven to eight elephants, making their daily food requirement enormous. To meet these needs, elephants naturally travel long distances through age-old forest corridors in search of fodder and water.
Because elephants digest only about 40–50% of what they eat, they need to spend 14–18 hours a day feeding and often walk 10–20 km or more daily in search of food and water. This is why uninterrupted forest corridors are crucial—they allow elephants to move safely between feeding and watering areas. When these traditional routes are blocked by human settlements or agriculture, elephants are often forced into villages, leading to human-elephant conflict.
However, many of these traditional routes have gradually been blocked or narrowed by human habitation, roads and agricultural expansion, forcing elephant herds to pass through villages that now stand where their ancient pathways once existed. The result has been a sharp rise in human-elephant conflict across several parts of the state.
Villagers alleged that despite the problem persisting for years, no permanent solution has been evolved. While the Forest Department has taken preventive measures, residents say these have provided only temporary relief and fear continues to dominate everyday life.
The elephant raids have damaged several kutcha and pucca houses and destroyed standing crops, including paddy, maize and vegetables. Villagers also recalled previous incidents in which human lives were lost during encounters with wild elephants.
With agriculture being the principal source of livelihood, repeated crop losses have pushed many farming families into financial distress. Some farmers have even begun contemplating abandoning cultivation in vulnerable areas.
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Local sources also agree that dwindling food resources inside the Atharamura forests, coupled with habitat degradation and the fragmentation of elephant corridors, have intensified the movement of herds towards nearby villages.
Conservationists believe that the conflict cannot be resolved merely by driving elephants back into the forests. They stress the need to restore degraded habitats, revive traditional elephant corridors, increase natural food availability inside forests, regulate encroachment in critical wildlife movement areas and ensure prompt compensation to affected families.
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Meanwhile, local MLA and Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma has reportedly been holding regular discussions with the Forest Department to explore both immediate and long-term measures to mitigate the recurring conflict.
