Episode 32: Way of the Elephants

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 has 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 hinges on the involvement and backing of village residents, and aims to strike a balance between human welfare, economic development, and wildlife preservation.