App to reduce deaths by elephants launched in India

The state of Assam in India has launched a mobile phone app aimed at reducing deaths caused by wild elephants.

The Haati app will warn people of approaching herds of elephants to allow them to get out of the way.

Assam has one of the biggest elephant populations in India and a high number of elephant and human deaths caused by their interactions.

Conservationists say elephants are becoming more aggressive in Assam because their habitats are shrinking, and even their traditional natural corridors are being encroached upon.

As many as 1,701 people were killed by elephants in India from 2020 to 2024, according to official data cited by the Hindustan Times in March.

The app launched in Assam has been developed by Aaranyak, a biodiversity organisation in north-east 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 which 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.