Study of Human-Elephant (Elephas maximus) Conflict in Host Community and Rohingya Refugee Camps of Cox's Bazar and Mitigation Methods

Abstract

Human-Elephant conflict has been an ongoing problem in Bangladesh. However, due to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Cox’s Bazar, the situation has become more complicated. Mass deforestation in that area for building camps has resulted in an intervention with elephant corridors which are historical migratory pathways created by elephants. Since the forest cover area has decreased, there are more hostile encounters between elephants and humans. The objective of this study is to see whether the situation of Human-Elephant Conflict has worsened in the host community and Rohingya camps since 2015, the year the Rohingya crisis started and what damages the elephants have done. It also aims to see the efficacy of the current mitigation methods that are in place: Elephant Response Teams and Watchtowers. The hypothesis of this research is that human-elephant conflicts have increased in both host community and Rohingya Camps since 2015. However, according to the results, the hypothesis failed. The research findings showed that there has been less conflicts with elephants in the camps and that the situation has improved. However, 40.8% of the host community members claim that the conflicts have increased since 2015. 60% of the respondents claim that the mitigation methods are working. This paper will answer what the perspectives of host community members and Rohingya refugees are about elephant protection, how much damage elephants have caused them and how efficient the mitigation methods are. Additionally it provides potential ways to improve on current mitigation methods based on the opinions of the respondents.