Human-elephant conflict creates welfare suffering for elephants through retaliatory killing, injury from conflict mitigation measures, and chronic stress from disrupted movement.
Human-elephant conflict creates welfare harm through multiple pathways. Elephants killed in retaliation suffer violent deaths. Elephants injured by deterrence measures including firecracker throwing and rubber bullets experience pain and fear. Chronic stress from living in landscapes where movement is restricted and human encounters are dangerous affects elephant psychology and social function. Solutions that maintain both human livelihoods and elephant welfare require landscape planning that provides elephants with sufficient habitat to meet their needs without entering cropland.