Human-elephant conflict causes suffering on both sides — retaliatory killing, snaring, and stress from crop raiding create chronic welfare problems across elephant range states.
Chronic conflict exposure causes measurable stress in elephants. Animals that repeatedly encounter humans in negative contexts show avoidance behaviour, reduced home range, and impaired reproduction. Translocation of conflict-prone bulls is an acute welfare intervention but disrupts social structure. Long-term solutions involve coexistence tools and compensation schemes.