A new handbook recommends how to avoid elephant deaths on roads, rail tracks

Earlier this year, an elephant and its calf were struck by a train near Corbett National Park, resulting in the instant death of the animals. Just a few months prior, in November of last year, a herd of three, including a calf, met a similar fate on a railway track passing through Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal. Tragic incidents like these highlight a growing concern of the escalating frequency of elephant deaths due to train collisions and road accidents across the country. According to a government estimate spanning from 2018 to 2023, a staggering 75 elephant deaths have been attributed to train collisions.

A new set of guidelines titled Handbook to mitigate the impacts of roads and railways on Asian elephants provides eco-friendly engineering and technical solutions to poorly planned linear infrastructure that come in the way of elephant movement in Asia. It’s crucial to recognise the precarious status of Asian elephants. There are about 52,000 individuals remaining in the wild across 13 countries, around 30,000 of them in India. The handbook is prepared by two IUCN specialist groups — the Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and the Asian Elephant Specialist Group, in collaboration with the US-based The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC).

Referring to the increasing incidents of rail tracks and highways turning into graveyards for the gentle giants, Vivek Menon, executive director of Wildlife Trust of India and a councilor of IUCN, writes in his foreword in the handbook: “There has never been a more pressing time for in-depth guidelines on linear infrastructure mitigation measures concerning elephants. These large-bodied, long-ranging proboscideans have been at the receiving end of a number of ill-planned or eco-insensitive development projects that stop their ability to move from habitat to habitat to satiate their basic needs of food, water, and security.”

Land use change diminished elephant numbers

The handbook maps the historic range of Asian elephants, spanning across eastern and southern China, stretching westward to East Asia, ranging across Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. It traverses the Iranian coast and reaches the ancient civilisation of Mesopotamia, where modern-day Turkey stands. Additionally, the historical range of the Asian elephant extends to Southeast Asia, with its southernmost reach extending to the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

According to studies referenced in the handbook, changes in land use and land cover since the 1700s have led to a 64% decline in suitable elephant habitats across Asia, equivalent to 3.36 million sq km. However, this is just one facet of the broader challenge facing India. Due to extensive habitat loss, elephants are constantly being pushed closer to human habitations. Linear transport infrastructure (LTI) such as railways and roads, often regarded as signs of progress, intersect vital elephant corridors, fragmenting herds, disrupting gene flow and leading to frequent collisions between vehicles and these majestic animals.

The handbook is the outcome of specific requests made by representatives of all 13 Asian range countries at the third Asian Elephant Range States Meeting in 2022 in Kathmandu, Nepal, according to Melissa Butynski, International Connectivity Project specialist with CLLC, who co-authored the handbook.

One of the handbook’s key focal points is the implementation of effective mitigation strategies, particularly the crossing structures. “Growing experience and research worldwide have demonstrated the technical and economic feasibility of crossing structures and management activities in effectively mitigating the impact of new, upgraded, or existing LTI on wildlife,” Butynski shares.

The handbook offers precise recommendations and design standards for Asian elephant-specific crossing structures, along with supplementary mitigation measures such as fencing, options for low-traffic and low-speed roads, and innovative technologies. For instance, crossing structures suggested for roads and railways include underpasses of various sizes suitable for drainages, streams, and rivers, as well as viaducts, flyovers, and bridges.

Butynski elaborates that the handbook is developed based on the principles of mitigation hierarchy where avoidance takes precedence, followed by minimisation, mitigation, restoration and compensation. “Crossing structures have proven highly effective, allowing animals to cross above or below LTIs. When used together with wildlife fencing and wildlife crossing structures, they dramatically reduce the incidence of wildlife mortality by as much as 98%,” she points out.

Conservation ecologist Aritra Kshettry of WWF-India sees a broader benefit for biodiversity in general through the design of mitigation structures for elephants.“Since elephants are wide-ranging and large-bodied animals, any mitigation measures or safeguards designed for them will benefit many co-occurring species,” he says. Additionally, he suggests creating a supplementary document outlining a framework of prioritising elephant corridors based on their current status. This would enable infrastructure planners to design suitable structures in accordance with the mitigation hierarchy outlined in the main document.

Better infrastructure for elephant movement

This is especially pertinent for countries like India, where awareness of wildlife-friendly infrastructure has grown significantly over the past two decades. Sandeep Kumar Tiwari, co-chair of the Asian Elephant Transport Working Group, emphasises that while the impact on wildlife was not initially a concern when some large linear transport infrastructures were planned, that mindset has evolved over time. “The railway lines passing through forest areas have resulted in the death of over 360 elephants since 1987. Similarly, irrigation canals in many places have totally restricted animal movement, confining them to one patch, resulting, at times, in increased human-wildlife conflicts (HWC),” he says.

The handbook proposes that when new roads, railway lines and other linear infrastructures are planned, particularly in areas where wildlife will be affected, an environmental and social impact assessment should be conducted to evaluate its effects on habitat, wildlife, pollinators, and the social well-being of local communities, among other factors.

Speaking to Mongabay-India, Menon underscores that globally, development often takes precedence over biodiversity conservation. “The way the two can be managed in this instance is to use such guidelines in allowing right of passage of this wonderful animal, the elephant, while allowing for critical road or rail projects to come up where needed and where (it is) ecologically suitable,” he says.

The authors expect the handbook to serve as a beacon of best practices, enhancing the capacity and expertise of wildlife experts, transport engineers, policymakers, and government officials in designing linear infrastructure that effectively addresses and mitigates risks to both wildlife and humans in Asian elephant range states.

Banner image: An elephant and its calf cross a road in the Anamalai hills, Tamil Nadu. Poorly planned linear transport infrastructures like roads and rail tracks are resulting in vehicular collisions with Asian elephants, killing or injuring them. Photo by Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan/NCF.