What problems do elephants cause for people?

Conflicts between humans and animals occur quite frequently. Almost no animal is exempt from occasional human conflict, including elephants. The conflict between elephants and humans has broad dimensions. In areas where elephants are prevalent, they can cause certain problems such as damage to property and crops. When elephants find their way into human developments, damage to homes and other facilities can occur, and sometimes people are even injured or killed. Although it is difficult to quantify or assess, anxiety felt by humans due to interference from elephants or other wildlife should not be ignored as a health effect.

One possible cause of this conflict is that humans are encroaching on elephants’ natural habitats. This triggers higher intensity conflict as elephants and humans are using the same land at the same time.

When viewed through the lens of their elephants, we can seethat their actions are not usually aggressive as these areas could have been part of their home or travel area for generations. When seen through the eyes of man, their farming land or settlement is their livelihood and they don’t want it disturbed.

Conflicts can be prevented if only humans respect the space and natural environment of the elephants. Unfortunately with increased populations and expanding human development this is not always the case. Communities should also seek out and try to better understand the existence and behavior of wild animals in their area, including elephants.

Elephants are very large animals, so they can cause a massive amount of damage if they come into contact with human development. They can easily injure or kill a human, at times even when they are unprovoked. Female elephants do tend to be more aggressive than males, especially when they are protecting their young.

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