Study finds rising stress levels among elephants of south Bengal
The Statesman | 10 October 2025The findings, published in Scientific Reports, a Nature group journal, underscore how human encroachment, habitat fragmentation, and aggressive conflict mitigation tactics are severely impacting the well-being of these endangered giants.
Titled, “Physiological responses in free-ranging Asian elephant populations living across human-production landscapes,” the study assessed the stress and metabolic states of elephants by analysing faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM) — a biomarker for physiological stress — and faecal triiodothyronine (fT3), which reflects metabolic rate. Researchers examined three distinct free-ranging elephant populations: one from central India (spanning West Midnapore and Kharagpur forest divisions of West Bengal) and two from the Northeastern region (covering Gorumara, Jalpaiguri, Jaldapara, and Buxa).
The results paint a worrying picture for the south Bengal population. Elephants in the central Indian landscape showed significantly higher fGCM levels and lower fT3 levels, indicating chronic stress and suppressed metabolism — physiological signs often linked to prolonged human-induced disturbances. In contrast, elephants from the more contiguous forest tracts of north Bengal exhibited comparatively lower stress indicators.
“Elephants living in more fragmented habitats in Central India had higher fGCM and lower fT3 levels compared to the Northeastern populations, as well as when compared (only fGCM levels) with a previously studied Southern Indian elephant population,” the paper noted.
The study also examined how human behaviour contributes to stress in elephant populations. Researchers observed that aggressive conflict-mitigation practices — especially the use of “hula parties” in south Bengal — are a major stressor. Hula parties, composed of local villagers, are mobilised to drive elephants away from croplands and villages, often using torches, crackers, and fireballs. While meant to prevent crop raids and property damage, such practices frequently lead to elephant injuries and deaths, intensifying the cycle of hostility and fear on both sides.
The publication highlighted that the central Indian landscape, which includes parts of south Bengal, reported the highest intensity of human-elephant conflicts, including unnatural elephant deaths and human casualties. In contrast, Southern Indian landscapes — where mitigation strategies are more regulated and forest continuity remains relatively intact — recorded the lowest levels of negative interactions.
Wildlife biologists say the findings reinforce the urgent need for landscape-level conservation planning and community sensitisation programmes in south Bengal. “Physiological stress markers give us a biological lens into what our developmental footprint is doing to wildlife,” said one of the researchers involved in the study. “When elephants show chronic stress responses, it’s a signal that their environment has become untenable for long-term survival.”
Experts warn that unless fragmentation is curbed and more humane conflict-mitigation methods are adopted, elephants in south Bengal could face population instability and behavioural disruption — outcomes that not only threaten conservation goals but also heighten risks for rural communities living at the forest fringes.
The study thus adds crucial evidence to the growing body of research showing how human-production landscapes — marked by agriculture, roads, and settlements — are silently reshaping wildlife physiology and behaviour. For the elephants of south Bengal, the forests may still stand — but the stress within them is reaching breaking point.
