Human–elephant conflict in Bhutan

Human–elephant conflict is one of the most persistent forms of human–wildlife conflict in Bhutan. It is concentrated in the southern foothills, in districts such as Sarpang, Samtse and Samdrup Jongkhar, where wild Asian elephants range through the same tropical and subtropical forests and farmland that rural communities depend on. Elephants raid crops, damage houses and stores, and occasionally kill people.^[1][2]

The second National Elephant Survey, carried out by the Nature Conservation Division of the Department of Forests and Park Services, estimated the population at 678 as of 2018. Most of these animals live in the south, and their habitat is being broken up by roads, infrastructure and the spread of farming.^[1] Elephants also move back and forth across the border with India; one collared elephant from Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary was tracked travelling towards Gelephu through Indian forest reserves.^[1]

Crop and property losses

Elephants feed on the staple crops of southern farmers: paddy, maize, banana and areca nut. They also damage temporary huts, storage sheds and homes.^[1] A household survey in the Sarpang Forest Division, carried out in 2016 and published in 2024, found that 104 of 249 households (about 42 per cent) had experienced conflict with elephants in the previous two years, and that 10 of the division's 12 gewogs were affected. Maize was the crop most often raided, followed by paddy, areca nut, banana and millet, and about 80 per cent of respondents said raids happened at night. Just over a third of affected households had not reported their losses to the authorities.^[3]

In Samtse, the forest division recorded one human death, 32 cases of crop damage and eight cases of property damage caused by elephants in 2024.^[2]

Deaths

Deaths are less common than crop losses but recur in the southern districts. In the early hours of 27 May 2026 a wild elephant killed a 59-year-old man in Tashicholing Gewog, Samtse. Kuensel reported that the tusker involved had grown more aggressive and had learned to use weak points in the area's fencing and alternative routes, and that some local families were thinking of leaving.^[2] In December 2018 an elephant herd killed a 41-year-old man on a road in Pemathang, Gelephu; it was the first such death in Gelephu that year, and residents described spending nights chasing elephants away from their crops.^[4]

Responses

The Nature Conservation Division's Elephant Conservation Action Plan for Bhutan, 2018–2028 sets out the national approach, with an emphasis on wildlife corridors and cooperation with India.^[1] See also wildlife corridors in Bhutan. In practice, the main measures are:

• Fencing. Electric and solar electric fences, chain-link fences and trenches. The Forest Department had built 153 kilometres of electric fencing in the Sarpang division, but fewer than 1 per cent of affected farmers surveyed there had their own fences, mostly because of cost.^[3] In Samtse, 2,050 metres of solar fencing were put up at two sites in January 2026, cost-shared by a WWF project, the communities and the forest office; officials reported only one or two major intrusions in the following five months.^[2] Fences need regular maintenance, which many communities find hard to pay for.^[1]
• Collaring and early warning. GPS collars track individual elephants so that communities can be warned of their approach. Samtse collared a matriarch and a tusker in 2025 and planned to collar the tusker involved in the 2026 death.^[2]
• Quick response teams. Community members trained to drive elephants away from settlements with non-lethal methods such as firecrackers and burning herbs.^[1] Traditional methods, such as night vigils, fires and drumming, remain common.^[3]
• Habitat work. Grasslands, waterholes and artificial salt licks created away from villages to keep elephants in the forest.^[1]

Officials in Samtse have said that eliminating the conflict is not feasible, and that the aim is to reduce damage and improve early warning.^[2]

Compensation

Bhutan has no national insurance or compensation scheme for losses to elephants. A community-based crop insurance programme run through Gewog Environmental Conservation Committees was discontinued so that a national scheme could be developed; in the meantime farmers receive seed subsidies and other support for their yields.^[1]

Gelephu Mindfulness City

Gelephu, the site of Gelephu Mindfulness City, is one of the places where conflict has long clustered. For the Project 108 event on 1 November 2026, which drew tens of thousands of visitors to the Mau Chhu, 125 forest officials were deployed across 17 areas. They tracked elephants with GPS collars that reported every ten minutes in high-risk areas, graded zones as green, amber or red by risk, and set up salt licks, waterholes and fodder away from the event to draw elephants elsewhere. Officials said elephant numbers in the area had not risen significantly. Areas west of Gelephu towards Samtenling and the Chhuzergang corridor were named as frequently visited by elephants.^[5]

See also

• Wildlife corridors in Bhutan
• Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary
• Royal Manas National Park
• Department of Forests and Park Services
• Subtropical forests of Bhutan

References

1. Monica Rai, "Elephants and humans struggle to coexist in the southern plains". The Bhutanese, 26 October 2024.
2. KP Sharma, "Wildlife conflict deepens as elephants adapt in Bhutan". Kuensel, via Asia News Network, 28 May 2026.
3. Ugyen Tshering, Rupali Thakur, Sonali Ghosh and Anukul Nath, "Addressing Human-Elephant Conflict in Sarpang, Bhutan: Challenges and Practices". Journal of Wildlife Science 1(2): 96–101, 2024.
4. "Man killed by wild elephants in Gelegphu". Bhutan Broadcasting Service, December 2018.
5. "Forest teams deployed across 17 areas to prevent elephant encounters". Bhutan Broadcasting Service, 29 October 2026.