In 2020, two bachelor elephants, Ram and Balram, began a journey that their kind had not taken in more than a century. Born in Odisha, they traversed more than half the length of Chhattisgarh, touching eastern Maharashtra, and roamed much of eastern Madhya Pradesh—until tragedy struck when the younger Balram stepped on an electric wire trap laid to protect crops from wild pigs. He died on the spot, head lying still with his tusks buried in the ground, as if he were merely resting.
In 2025, an elderly tusker known to roam the tea gardens, village streets, and occasionally raid ration shops and storehouses in the Rangapara tea complex in Assam, came in contact with a sagging overhead electric wire and died instantly. He was known in the region as Lachit and shared the space with people despite his regular forays into settlements in search of food.
In the past decade, over 1,000 elephants have died due to human-induced pressures. More than three-quarters of these deaths are attributed to electrocution and train collisions, while poisoning and poaching are also prominent causes.
The management of human-elephant conflict is as much about preventing human deaths and injuries as it is about protecting wild elephant populations. A variety of mitigation measures are implemented to provide relief to the people who have to bear the brunt of negative interactions as elephants navigate modified landscapes. These include proactive measures, such as temporary and permanent barriers, and reactive measures, such as ex gratia compensation.
Male bias in elephant deaths
It is important to understand the movement of elephants through mosaic landscapes in order to better manage human-elephant interactions. Research indicates that the behaviour of mature male elephants (bulls), who largely live a solitary life, and female-led herds, comprising adult females, calves, and juveniles, influences their interactions with people. Bulls have been observed to not only range over large areas compared to female-led herds, but also display a ‘high-risk-high-gain’ strategy. Identified in the late 1980s, this behaviour is typical of bull elephants risking their lives to access cultivated crops as ‘extra nutrition’. While a herd would do more damage to crops in terms of quantity and area, male elephants have been observed to venture into farmlands and settlements more frequently.
Lachit was one such bull, who lived in the groves amid tea gardens and often interacted with female-led herds as they migrated during the post-monsoon months to feed on ripening crops. Similarly, a solitary bull in Narengi (Assam) roams the army camp and has been observed raiding stores, canteens, and vehicles in search of food. CME3 is another long-ranging bull who roams in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, interacting with different herds and occasionally raiding crops.
The long-ranging behaviour of sub-adult elephants, in search of territories and females, takes them on vast journeys—as Ram–Balram showcased. However, these journeys end up bringing them closer to people more often than females. Furthermore, bull elephants in musth—a period of heightened testosterone levels—show greater risk-taking behaviour and potential for adverse interactions with people.
Studies from across India indicate a male bias in elephant deaths due to man-induced reasons. A compilation of the records of elephant mortalities from West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand, from various time frames between 1979 and 2023, shows that of the dead animals, 52 per cent were male, 43 per cent were female, and 6 per cent were of unknown sex.
In Assam, records of elephant deaths spanning 2003 to 2023 show that five out of 10 dead animals were male, three were female, and two were of unknown sex. A study in West Bengal found that the proportion of adult males killed was nearly three times higher than that expected from their representation in the population. In the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), data from 1979 to 2011 showed six out of ten dead elephants were males. In Rajaji National Park (Uttarakhand), 2.42 males per 100 died a year between 1992 and 2000, compared to 1.45 females per 100.
In Sri Lanka, where elephant deaths were recorded for the periods 1990-1999 and 2009-2018, the data show male bias, with six out of 10 dead elephants being male.
The deaths were mainly due to electrocution, railway collisions, and poaching. Some studies, particularly those from Sri Lanka, also identified gunshots and hakka patas (pressure bombs) as leading causes.
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Genetic bottlenecks
Male elephants spend proportionately more time in human-use areas, increasing the probability of male bias in human-induced deaths. Large and long-ranging, they are more susceptible to contact with sagging overhead electricity wires and are more likely to cross railway tracks. Poaching for ivory is also a major driver of deaths, especially in the recent history of Tamil Nadu, with the elephant population showing a sex ratio skewed toward females.
The male bias is more pronounced since the male-to-female ratio in wild elephants is generally skewed toward females. On average, the male-to-female ratio of adult elephants in Assam, according to the 2024 assessment, is 1:1.75. The ratio in Karnataka’s Nagarhole and Bandipur National Parks is 1:4, while in Tamil Nadu’s Madumalai Tiger Reserves, it goes up to 1:20. This makes male elephants more susceptible to human-induced pressures than females.
Wild male elephants are now adapting to exploit human spaces. A recent study revealed that solitary elephants in forested areas form stable all-male groups in human-modified areas. It is an adaptive strategy in the face of increased interactions with humans.
The implications of gender-biased deaths in wild populations are long-term. It affects gene exchange among populations, which is steered by bull elephants traversing mosaic landscapes not conducive to the movement of large female-led herds. In the long term, genetic bottlenecks—a reduced number of males leading to a decrease in genetic diversity—reduce genetic health among populations. A study of the genomics of wild elephants in India found that a female-biased sex ratio in southern populations (due to selective poaching of males for ivory) has led to a decrease in effective population sizes.
This sex bias is yet to be seen through the lens of human-elephant conflict management. One of the steps is to identify solitary males with a proclivity to human-dominated landscapes, understand their behaviour, and devise strategies to prevent encounters with people. Long-ranging bachelor elephants, crucial for genetic viability among geographically and genetically distant populations, are also of interest with respect to their interactions with people. Engaging with people and raising awareness is vital for maintaining the genetic connectivity of these long-ranging mega-herbivores.
Active interventions which minimise electrocution and train collisions are essential to prevent sex-biased deaths, even as elephant behaviour is integrated in conflict management. And, while we put in place one piece of the conflict management puzzle, there is another that warrants inquiry. What about human death or injury caused by elephants? Do these incidents also show a gender bias? Understanding whether encounters with bull elephants result in proportionally higher human deaths and injuries than female-led herds would help in devising focused preventive strategies.
Aniruddha Dhamorikar is the Lead for Species Conservation, Brahmaputra Landscape, WWF-India. His X handle is @AniruddhaHD. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)