As the human-elephant conflict continues, without a clear solution, the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) says it has reached the point that it cannot be resolved only by it.

Land grabs, illegally fencing off land for cultivation and development projects as well as power generation, have become issues that need intervention from other stakeholder ministries, departments, and local governments.

Officials who declined to be named said people do not know the underlying causes and instead blame the department for the deaths of elephants or destruction of farmland.

They said the human-elephant conflict had spiralled out of control.

Pointing out that the elephant home ranges remain outside of protected areas, they said the areas may be forested land which belongs to other state entities or private land. When that land is fenced off and used for human activity, the elephants move towards villages and farmland, aggravating the issue.

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