'Assam Haathi Project', a collaborative conservation project launched jointly by UK-based Chester Zoo and EcoSystems India to bring down such incidents, has been awarded the prestigious Darwin Initiative of the UK government.
Project Manager Nandita Hazarika claimed no loss of life due to man-animal conflict was reported from the six-affected villages ever since the project was initiated in 2004 with the help of more than 800 households, local civil society organisations and the forest department.
"We have succeeded in improving the livelihood of people and safety of elephants in six villages and trained over 130 community members in Sonitpur and Goalpara districts of Assam," she said.There are, however, many more villages in Assam where such incidents need to be brought down, Hazarika said. Wild elephants straying into crop fields is not a new phenomenon in Assam but with increasing rates of deforestation, elephants are forced to venture out for food