THE ISSUE

Not only is poaching for ivory and elephant skin a serious and growing problem in Asia, but also the rise in deadly human-elephant conflicts, particularly in large human population growth areas in India and Southeast Asia.  As more people settle near elephant habitats or ranges, these dangerous conflicts become inevitable.

In addition to human population growth and migration, extensive deforestation has also been a major cause of elephant habitat loss.  For decades, the worldwide trade in exotic woods harvested in many Asian countries has produced mass decimation of vital forests. Although many countries throughout the region have begun to limit their timber trade, illegal logging continues and is causing the rapid loss of elephants' natural habitat.

In response, elephants have been driven to desperate measures to survive.  Their need for food has led to crop raiding near villages, producing terrifying consequences for the inhabitants and the destruction of the villagers' source of income and sustenance. These conflicts stir resentment towards the elephants, and has led to villagers engaging poachers to kill elephants.

Innovative, humane solutions are needed to protect both sides of the human-elephant crisis.  The Elephant Project is committed to finding and implementing those solutions that work.   

THE SOLUTION

The Elephant Project will focus its efforts in four areas to help bring a short and long term solution to this problem:

| Fund the construction of fencing and utilize other barriers to separate humans and elephants.

| Educate those subject to these conflicts on non-lethal methods of protecting their livelihood and families from elephants.

| Restore elephants natural habitat through reforestation.

| Relocate elephants who are in high human-elephant conflict areas to safe zones.

The Elephant Project will partner with organizations working in these areas so as to ensure the most efficient, humane, and cost effective implementation of these solutions.

THE LINESMAN

As a way to help increase awareness of this issue, The Elephant Project, in association with Encompass Films and Blue Spark Media, co-produced The Linesman.

The Linesman is a story of one man’s mission to end human-elephant conflict in his homeland.  With an unprecedented view of the plight of threatened villagers and their massive, majestic foes -- the Asian Elephant -- we come to truly understand both sides of this deadly struggle.  Set in the rural landscape of Myanmar, The Linesman illustrates how decades of massive deforestation, the loss of critical habitat, and the increase in elephant poaching for ivory and skin, have driven elephants to desperate measures to survive.  In the search for food and safety, they invade nearby villages destroying essential crops and posing a lethal risk to villagers.  To protect their livelihoods and their loved ones, some villages have resorted to calling in brutal poachers to stop the elephants.  The destruction on both sides has created devastating results that demand a search for solutions. 

The Linesman is a 30-minute documentary that explores the root causes of human-elephant conflict and highlights the efforts of conservationist U Khin Maung Gyi to restore peace and balance between these two vital communities.