COIMBATORE: Compensation for crop damage due to human-wildlife conflict in Tamil Nadu remains significantly higher than that paid for human deaths, injuries, and property damage.
Forest department data over the past decade (up to July 2025) reveal a worrying trend, with crop losses and compensation remaining consistently high except in a few years.
The year 2023-24 recorded the highest crop damage and compensation figures in the last ten years, underscoring the growing intensity of the conflict across the State.
In the financial year 2023-24, the department disbursed over Rs 10.70 crore as compensation for crop damage to farmers, while Rs 4.54 crore was paid to the families of those killed in wild animal attacks, including elephants and leopards. In 2024-25, compensation for human fatalities rose to Rs 7.7 cr, while Rs 7.04 cr was paid to farmers for crop losses.
Compensation for livestock deaths and injuries caused by wild animals have also remained high over the past three years. In 2022-23, compensation of Rs 12.04 lakh was paid on this count and it increased to Rs 14.9 lakh in 2023-24 and Rs 15.44 lakh in 2024-25, indicating a steady rise in such incidents.
According to a senior forest department official, crop damage is significantly higher in the Western Ghats region —covering Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Theni, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and extending to Kanniyakumari — compared to the Eastern Ghats belt from Sathyamangalam to Hosur.
"The Western Ghats landscape, with its dense forests adjoining agricultural lands, witnesses frequent animal movement into farms. Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Coast are the three of the 10 bio-geographic regions in the country. Human-animal conflict has evolved as one of the most challenging aspects of wildlife management and a threat to conservation," the official said.
Although the department has implemented preventive measures such as elephant-proof trenches (EPTs), solar fencing, fodder development, and habitat restoration within forest areas, elephants continue to venture into farmlands, attracted by nutritious crops. Besides elephants, wild boars, peafowl, spotted deer, gaur, and monkeys are also responsible for extensive crop damage.
Farmers, however, allege that compensation remains inadequate. "We receive about Rs 25,000 per acre and Rs 500 per coconut tree, but our actual losses can go up to Rs 1 lakh per acre if elephants or wild boars destroy the crop," said T Venugopal, State president of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association.
A senior official stressed that resolving human-wildlife conflict requires coordinated efforts among the forest department, local bodies, Tangedco, revenue, police, district administration, agriculture, and rural development departments.
Tamil Nadu has an estimated elephant population of 3,170 and a forest cover of 20.31%, according to the 2021 Forest Survey of India report.