The Terai and Dooar regions of North Bengal were once strongholds of the Asian elephant. The area includes about 2,200 sq km of forest. Wild elephants are found from the Mechi River on the India-Nepal border in the west, to the Sankosh River in the east on the Bengal-Assam State border.

Recent and sudden changes in land-use patterns have severely threatened the elephant population of the area. The problem was exacerbated by habitat fragmentation and human encroachment. There is now a large-scale human-elephant conflict in the region.

WPSI is carrying out a study between the Mechi River and the Torsa River to: identify elephant migration routes and movement patterns; assess changes in crop patterns; gather data on human and elephant deaths; delineate the areas of conflict; and assess the intensity of conflict in different villages. The status of the elephant population and its group compositions are also being determined. A detailed map of land-use patterns and elephant habitats is being prepared.

Field researchers Arindam Das and Pallab Bhattacharya are carrying out the study in coordination with the West Bengal Forest Department.