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# The elephant is actually in the room
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/19108/
- Published: 2006-10-10T15:10:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-17T10:24:27.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:23, #ImagesUploaded

![Human-Elephant conflict](https://www.opendemocracy.net/content/files/2026/04/hathi2_bsxvlHL-1776421371327.gif)

Human-Elephant conflict

"[The aim of our patrol](http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/TheJungleBook.html?ref=opendemocracy.net#Colonel%20Hathi%27s%20March)," it seems, is no longer "a question rather droll." Researchers and conservationists have grown increasingly alarmed by the violent behaviour of elephants in recent years. Across Africa and India, incidents of [Human-Elephant](http://www.elephant.se/elephant%5Fhuman%5Fconflict.php?open=Man%20and%20elephants&ref=opendemocracy.net) conflict have increased manifold. This week, for instance, a herd of elephants - grieving the loss of one of their compatriots - mounted nightly [raids](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south%5Fasia/6036591.stm?ref=opendemocracy.net) on villages in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Elephants have killed on average over 50 people a year for the past 12 years in the eastern state of [Assam](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&em&en=17a965f053ff1803&ex=1160625600&ref=opendemocracy.net), many through meticulous execution-style gorings. Not only humans but other animals are feeling the pain of elephantine aggro and angst, with [rhinoceroses](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&em&en=17a965f053ff1803&ex=1160625600&ref=opendemocracy.net) particularly singled out for abuse. The phenomenon of pachyderm violence received [mammoth treatment](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&em&en=17a965f053ff1803&ex=1160625600&ref=opendemocracy.net) in The New York Times magazine this weekend. As a result of increased poaching, encroachment on their habitat, and environmental change, the article suggests that [Colonel Hathi](http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/TheJungleBook.html?ref=opendemocracy.net#Colonel%20Hathi%27s%20March) and his ilk face "nothing less than a precipitous collapse of elephant [culture](http://www.elephants.com/media/iol%5F7%5F20%5F05.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net)."

(Image courtesy [Echolalie](http://www.echolalie.org/wiki/index.php?ListedElephants&ref=opendemocracy.net))