Human-elephant conflict causes deaths on both sides and is one of the greatest threats to wild elephant populations. Effective coexistence strategies protect both people and elephants.
Human-elephant conflict welfare impacts fall on elephants through retaliatory killing, injury from deterrence measures, and the chronic stress of living in landscapes where they are persecuted. Night raids on crops bring elephants into close contact with humans wielding firecrackers, lights, and sometimes weapons — causing fear, injuries, and death. The disruption to elephant movement from widespread conflict can compress family group ranges, increasing intraspecific conflict and reducing access to food and water. Effective coexistence measures protect elephant welfare while addressing the legitimate economic concerns of farmers: beehive fences, chilli deterrents, early warning systems, and crop insurance schemes all reduce the human cost of living with elephants, thereby reducing the pressure for lethal management. The welfare case for these interventions is reinforced by their cost-effectiveness: community-based coexistence programmes typically cost a fraction of the conservation cost of losing individual elephants to conflict killing. Supporting the livelihoods of communities living with elephants is therefore a direct contribution to elephant welfare.