Guwahati: Deep in the misty temperate forests of Arunachal Pradesh’s Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, elephants are now being recorded at a staggering 3,266 metres above sea level — the highest altitude ever documented for elephants in India. Scientists say the dramatic climb may signal a deeper ecological shift unfolding across the eastern Himalayas.
Arunachal Pradesh has unveiled its first comprehensive strategy and action plan to address the growing human-elephant conflict across the Himalayan frontier state, warning that rapid land-use change, expanding infrastructure and habitat disruption are intensifying clashes between people and elephants.
A new report released jointly by the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department and WWF-India reveals that elephant distribution in the state has expanded by nearly 78% in less than a decade — from around 7,000 sq km in 2017 to 12,446 sq km in 2025.
The findings, part of Arunachal Pradesh’s first-ever state action plan on human-elephant conflict, paint a striking picture of elephants moving into newer landscapes, higher elevations and increasingly closer to human settlements across the Himalayan foothills.
“Arunachal Pradesh is a land where nature and culture walk hand in hand. Among its most majestic residents is the elephant — an enduring symbol of strength, wisdom and heritage,” Chief Minister Pema Khandu wrote in the report’s foreword, adding that the gentle giants have “carved their own timeless journey across the Himalayan foothills, even scaling the highest elevations recorded in India”.
However, the chief minister also warned that the age-old relationship between people and elephants is under growing strain.
“Expanding settlements, changing land-use and rapid infrastructure growth have brought people and elephants into closer contact than ever before — sometimes with tragic consequences,” Khandu noted, adding that human-elephant conflict now threatens “not only the survival of this magnificent species but also the lives and livelihoods of our people”.
Researchers documented elephant presence across 17 districts, stretching from lowland river valleys to montane forests above 3,000 metres. Apart from Eaglenest, elephants were also recorded at elevations between 1,500 and 2,000 metres in regions such as Pakke Tiger Reserve, Sagalee, Aalo and Daporijo.
The report noted that elephant presence in Arunachal Pradesh had earlier been observed primarily in foothill regions, with occasional movement up to 2,000 metres. However, during the present study, elephant signs were reported at 3,266 metres in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary.
Further north, in the Tenga Valley of Shergaon Forest Range, herds of five to six elephants and solitary bulls were frequently linked to crop-raiding incidents.
Traditionally associated with tropical forests and grasslands, Asian elephants are now navigating steep Himalayan terrain using river valleys such as the Kameng, Pakke, Dikrong and Lohit as natural movement corridors. The report describes these valleys as critical pathways that allow elephants to traverse Arunachal’s rugged mountains.
WWF-India Secretary General and CEO Ravi Singh warned that the very landscapes sustaining elephants are undergoing rapid transformation.
“However, the majority of elephant populations are found in the foothills and low-lying plains of the state, the very landscape currently undergoing rapid change. Notably, elephants range between the forests of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, but extensive forest loss in Assam over the past two decades, along with shifting land-use patterns in the Arunachal plains, have put their habitats under serious threat,” Singh said.
The report identifies land-use and land-cover change as one of the primary drivers of human-elephant conflict in Arunachal Pradesh. An analysis of six hotspot districts between 2018 and 2023 found that built-up areas increased across all districts, with Tirap witnessing an 81.37% rise in human settlements during the period. Pakke Kessang and Papum Pare recorded increases of 69.4% and 64.1%, respectively.
At the same time, forest cover declined significantly in Pakke Kessang and Papum Pare, while water bodies shrank across all six conflict hotspot districts. Agricultural land was also found to be decreasing, with researchers suggesting that some areas may have been converted into plantations.
The report also flags infrastructure expansion as a major concern for elephant movement. In the Dulung-Subansiri corridor, which connects elephant populations between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, hydropower development, roads and sand mining along the Subansiri River are increasingly disrupting elephant movement.
Similarly, the expansion of National Highway 13 and the construction of hydropower projects along the Ranga and Pare rivers are believed to have altered elephant movement patterns in parts of the Sagalee Forest Division.
According to local forest officials cited in the report, a herd of 25 to 30 elephants has become isolated in a small forest patch north of NH-13, leading to frequent conflict with nearby villages such as Ompuli, Khyunglo, Dapo and the 47 and 52 km camps.
The report documents 1,503 human-elephant conflict incidents in Arunachal Pradesh between 2007 and 2024, including crop damage, property destruction, injuries and deaths. Major conflict hotspots include Pakke Kessang, Papum Pare, East Siang, Lohit, Changlang and Tirap districts.
To address the growing crisis, the action plan proposes a mix of modern technology and community-led mitigation measures, including AI-enabled early warning systems, thermal drones, solar fencing, elephant-proof trenches, radio telemetry, rapid response teams and watch towers.
The report stresses that elephant conservation in Arunachal Pradesh can no longer be confined to protected areas alone. Elephant presence now extends beyond national parks and sanctuaries into agricultural land, river valleys and inhabited landscapes, making coexistence a central challenge for the state’s future conservation strategy.
India hosts nearly 60% of the world’s remaining wild Asian elephants, with fewer than 50,000 left globally. Arunachal Pradesh alone supports around 1,600 elephants, making it one of the country’s most significant elephant landscapes.
For scientists and conservationists, the image of elephants climbing into the high Himalayas is both extraordinary and unsettling — a sign of the species’ resilience, but also a warning that the ecological map of Northeast India may be rapidly changing.
Also Read: Explained: Why was Arunachal activist Gumin Mize arrested in Assam?
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