India, Dec. 13 -- North Bengal has always been a place where forests, wildlife and humankind stood undisturbed. Humans have never been hostile, barring a few incidences of killing as what we witness today. For generations, tea gardens, small villages, and dense jungles have shaped a landscape where humans, elephants and leopards were never in a confrontational mood; But in recent decades, this harmonious relationship has begun to crumble. What once looked like coexistence has slowly turned into conflict - not because either side has changed its nature, but because the ground beneath their feet has changed.

Today, both human communities and wild animals are drifting into danger, pushed by forces they neither created nor can fully control....