Food and Water for Odisha's Distraught Elephants

Development is rapidly dwindling Odisha's forests, forcing elephants to enter villages/cropland and cross roads for food and water. This has increased human-elephant conflict and elephant deaths from vehicle collisions. This project will restore degraded habitats by cultivating favored elephant plant species and creating waterholes within elephant habitats. Local community members will be trained and employed to run the project.

Project partner - Paribartan

Saving Elephants from Deadly Train Tracks

Unsustainable development including railway tracks and roads that cut through core habitats are a major cause of elephant deaths. Every year 2-3 elephants die in train collisions. Speed restrictions are enforced inside protected areas but not outside where most accidents occur. We are piloting an early warning system to alert train drivers of elephant presence, with enough time for the speeding train to stop. The sirens will also warn elephants about the trains, preventing them from crossing.  

Safe Passage for Elephants in Tea Plantations of West Bengal

The mission of this project is to create a safe passage for elephants when they migrate through the tea plantations between forest patches, and restore the lost habitats, by planting native and endemic species.

Saving 500 Elephants from Electrocution

In India's West Bengal state, 1-2 elephants die each year from accidental or deliberate electrocutions. In 2020 alone, around 10 elephants had been electrocuted. We have installed elephant-friendly solar fencing around 3Km of a farmland and it is very effective. We are monitoring wildlife movement using camera trap. We have now launched our second 

Champions to Feed Odisha Elephants

Habitat loss is pushing elephants out of the forests in search of food, and they often get hit and killed by oncoming trucks. We have cultivated elephant-friendly fodder in our plant nursery and are in the process of replanting them to restore the depleted habitats.

Saving Odisha Elephants from Traffic Deaths

Elephant deaths due to traffic collisions are mounting in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. We have installed groundbreaking reflective billboards 9' above ground, which will alert Odisha drivers, warning them to slow down and save elephants. 

Flash the Lights to Save Elephants of India

This project aims to create safe shared spaces for people and elephants, using science based solutions. In West Bengal state, India, human and elephant deaths are alarmingly high at approx. 40 people and six elephants per year. A simple tool like flashlights are proving to be so effective that in the 50 villages we have distributed 2000 flashlights, there has been no elephant or human deaths. We are now distributing 2000 more flashlights in our second phase.

Forgotten Elephants of Odisha

Work has already begun in Odisha, with VFAES, in partnership with Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), are leading a team of local conservationists to steer knowledge-driven elephant conservation actions in some of the most vulnerable regions of the state. One of the most important tasks is detecting live wires on the forest floor laid by poachers, in order to tackle wildlife crime.

VFAES conducted the first of its kind summit in November 2019, when decision makers, key ministries and stakeholders were invited to participate in this event. The goal is to foster open communication and collaboration between key ministries in order to ensure that the existing wildlife regulations are implemented and enforced, in order to protect India's heritage animal.

Elephant owners and brokers are commercializing India's elephants, leasing them out for profit behind the veil of cultural festivals and religion. They are brutally abused, neglected, and deprived of adequate food, water and shelter. VFAES in collaboration with Elephant Care Unchained provided a week long workshop to the elephant handlers at a Government-run elephant camp, promoting positive reinforcement and enrichment programs.

Project Asian Elephants 101, a week-long youth empowerment program, entails in-class, theoretical training and outdoor nature retreats, designed to foster critical thinking, teamwork, and creative solutions, among other things. With the support of Kerala's Director General of Police, Mr. Loknath Behera, we provided this cutting edge program to Kerala's Student Police Cadet in November 2019. We have been unable to continue this very successful program due to COVID-related issues.

Elephants are losing their habitats to reckless development, including mining, railways, roadways, making it difficult, if not impossible, for elephants to migrate between the forests. In order to address this issue, we are in the process of purchasing a 2-acre plot of land to create a corridor in a core elephant habitat of Kerala. $ US 40,000 has been earmarked for this project. However, land purchase has been delayed due to COVID-related issues.