Trapped By The Border

For centuries, elephants moved freely across the forested hills between present-day Bangladesh and India, following ancient migratory routes in search of food, water and shelter. Today, many can no longer make that journey. A border fence and frequently closed crossing gates have altered their natural movement, leaving growing numbers stranded in Bangladesh, where shrinking forests and expanding settlements are pushing both elephants and people into an increasingly deadly conflict.

The behavioural shift has been most evident among the northern elephant population, whose traditional migratory routes between Bangladesh and India's Meghalaya have been disrupted by barriers along the border.
Prof MA Aziz of Jahangirnagar University's Department of Zoology said the 50-kilometre permanent barbed-wire fence built along the Bangladesh-India border in 2007, separating Meghalaya from Sherpur and Jamalpur districts, fundamentally changed elephant movement in the region.

According to him, elephants repeatedly damaged sections of the fence while trying to follow their traditional routes. In response, Indian authorities installed 44 gates along the fence, roughly three kilometres apart, to facilitate elephant movement.

Prof Aziz said elephants regularly used nine of the gates, made moderate use of seven others and occasionally crossed through the remaining 28.

"However, soon after the gates were installed, they were usually kept closed and opened by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) only when herds of elephants from Meghalaya repeatedly tried to cross into Bangladesh. The gates were closed again after the elephants had crossed. Consequently, elephants in Bangladesh could hardly return to India through their traditional migratory routes," he said.

As a result, elephants have increasingly moved through Jhenaigati, Sreebardi, Nalitabari and Bakshiganj upazilas, where they were rarely seen before the fence was built, according to Prof Aziz.

Experts said the disruption of cross-border migration has significantly altered the behaviour of the northern elephant population over the past few years. The changed movement pattern has brought elephants into more frequent contact with border communities, leading to more crop raids, property damage and fatalities.

Prof Feeroz, a member of the IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, said the changes became particularly noticeable after 2019.

"Before 2019, elephants generally crossed into Bangladesh during the harvest season and stayed for only about two months before returning to India's Meghalaya Hills. Now, many remain in Bangladesh throughout most of the year," he said.

Researchers say the prolonged stay has intensified human-elephant conflict in northern Bangladesh.

Forest Department data show that between 2000 and 2015, at least 78 people and 19 elephants were killed in such conflicts in the northern region. The losses have continued over the past decade, with 35 elephants dying since 2014, most of them from electrocution, across the Balijuri, Rangtia, Madhutila, Mymensingh Sadar and Durgapur forest ranges.

Prof Aziz said the conflict peaks during the country's three major paddy-growing seasons-December to January, March to May, and July to August-with the Aman harvest suffering the greatest losses because elephants are strongly attracted to ripening paddy.

He said Jhenaigati records the highest number of human-elephant conflicts, followed by Sreebardi and Nalitabari, while adult males-both humans and elephants-account for most fatalities.
The observations also challenge the widespread perception that elephants are naturally aggressive.

A two-month field survey in Sherpur, conducted with support from local survey teams and members of the Elephant Response Team, found the herds generally calm and tolerant of nearby human presence. Defensive behaviour was observed mainly after disturbances caused by explosive devices, electric fencing or large crowds.

The survey found that people repeatedly disturbed elephants with fire, spears, stones and firecrackers, disrupting their feeding, resting and movement. It also identified the growing presence of social media content creators around elephant habitats as another source of disturbance.

"We have recently seen a sharp increase in the number of content creators chasing elephants to produce videos. Their activities seriously disturb the animals and should be dealt with strictly," Prof Feeroz said.

The challenges facing the elephants extend beyond blocked migration routes.

According to the Mymensingh Forest Division, the forest belt stretching across Mymensingh, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Netrakona once covered more than 71,000 acres. Nearly 29,700 acres-about 40 per cent of that area-have since been encroached upon and converted into settlements, cropland and other human uses.

Experts say an adult elephant requires about 200 to 250 kilogrammes of vegetation and around 150 litres of water each day. Shrinking forests have drastically reduced the availability of food and shelter, forcing elephants into villages and croplands in search of food and increasing encounters with people.

Despite these challenges, conservation efforts have expanded in recent years.

Nearly 40 elephant calves aged between one and five years have been recorded in the region over the past six years, raising the northern elephant population to around 140.

To improve elephant habitats, the Forest Department, with technical support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, launched a large-scale afforestation programme across the northern forest belt in 2018. About 700 acres of degraded forest land in Sherpur, Jamalpur, Mymensingh and Netrakona have since been brought under plantations of indigenous species, including bahera, amloki, haritaki, shimul, udal, jackfruit and elephant apple, which provide food for elephants while helping restore natural forest ecosystems.

Meanwhile, 530 trained volunteers working in 53 Elephant Response Teams now help guide elephants safely back to nearby forests whenever they stray into villages.
Experts, however, say conservation efforts alone will not secure the future of the northern elephant population.

"The elephants have always moved across this landscape," they said. "Conservation efforts will remain incomplete unless their transboundary migration routes are restored."