Learning to Coexist with Nature’s Largest Neighbors | WILD HOPE

Elephant migration corridors in India are a necessary thoroughfare for one of the planet’s largest animals — but when conflicts with human residents along these routes caught the attention of the Wildlife Trust of India, the solution became a massive undertaking: relocate an entire village.

The encroachment of human settlements into elephant territories is not a new issue in the Indian state of Kerala. Far too often, the overlap between human and elephant territories leads to escalated conflicts that endanger both local communities and the forest giants. To mitigate these conflicts, the Wildlife Trust of India launched a community-focused conservation strategy to keep both the human and animal neighbors safe: relocating entire villages to restore the ancestral migration paths of the elephants. To succeed, this initiative hinged on the involvement and backing of village residents, and aimed to strike a balance between human welfare, economic development, and wildlife preservation.

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[peasinourthyme]

Well done India and the WTI! Greetings from Sweden :)

[raihanabari]

Well done. This is a very important move to save these majestic and intelligent animals.

[bertkreft]

a huge effort to save nature and deserves great respect - so much appreciation for this smart decision - greetings from germany

[JJDigitalartStudio]

Such a smart move. Good for the elephants. They had that area long before humans came into it. Much easier to move the people and NOT the elephants. Elephants are very intelligent.

[sailordoc]

Nice .. one small happy story in an otherwise bleak picture with increasingly isolated wildlife populations

That last image of the thick lantana bushes surrounding the young tusker is a big part of the problem in South Indian forests - an invasive alien species that’s choking our forests and forcing herbivores to enter habitation.
In north India it’s competition from stray cattle but that’s another issue altogether

[alishademmery]

You tell them darling
Gorgeous beautiful animals

[richardjohnson]

humans need to share this beautiful planet with all life.

[meerakrishnan]

Humans should not encroach the wide life corridor... Leave the elephants alone...

[devleigh]

Happy there was a solution that supported all life

[lordssuvratasuvrata]

Humans are menace for wildlife and not the other way

[isaacanimalogo-]

I wish i could be doing many of those conservation actions with those animals right now but i can't cause i'm only 19 and don't have a professional role in conservation right now!😢

[Syl]

I hope you removed all the rubble too!

[falcon]

Increasing population entering in wild corridor that's why wild population may decreased

[jeromedado]

Hey indian government teach ur citizens on how to respect nature and wild life!