App to reduce deaths by elephants launched in India
The Indian state of Assam has introduced a mobile app designed to reduce fatalities resulting from encounters with wild elephants. Named the “Haiti” app, it alerts users of nearby elephant herds, giving them time to move to safety.
Assam, which hosts one of India’s largest elephant populations, experiences a significant number of both human and elephant deaths due to these interactions. Conservationists attribute the growing aggressiveness of elephants in Assam to habitat loss and encroachment on their natural corridors.
According to official data reported by the Hindustan Times in March, elephants were responsible for the deaths of 1,701 people in India between 2020 and 2024.
The app was developed by Aaranyak, a biodiversity organization based in northeast India.
It also contains a form enabling victims and their relatives to seek compensation from the local government in cases of injury or death as a result of an attack by the animals.
Aaranyak has also unveiled a handbook on solar-powered fences that can deter elephants.
According to wildlife charity WWF, there are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. The group estimates that half-a-million families in India are affected by crop-raiding elephants each year.
