Demographic Circumstances and People’s Sentiments towards Elephants in the Human–Elephant Conflict Hotspot Villages of Keonjhar Forest Division in Eastern India

The socio-economic aspects of the people who directly share space with elephants not only influence the occurrence of human-elephant conflict (HEC) but also shape their sentiments towards coexistence with elephants. The objectives of this paper are to (i) assess the demographic situation and map people’s sentiments towards elephants in the HEC hotspot villages of the Keonjhar forest division in India and (ii) rank the most suitable policy instruments and the urgency of mitigation strategies. The results indicated that cultivation and marginal agriculture were positively related with HEC incidences, whereas literacy and employment were negatively associated. Despite being severely affected by human–elephant conflict, many of the respondents (78%) in the HEC hotspot regions still had positive sentiments towards elephants. According to expert opinions, strengthening of laws regarding land use facilitation and interlinking conservation values to socio-cultural aspects need urgent implementation in order to balance infrastructural development and protection of ecosystems by enhancing community participation. Communal crop guarding, chilly-dung and honeybee fencing, accompanied by tracking and maintaining an elephant locational database are suggested as the HEC mitigation methods with highest urgency.