Bhubaneswar, Feb. 13 -- Odisha continues to earn the dubious distinction of recording maximum human deaths owing to human-pachyderm conflict despite being home to a lower number of elephants compared to India's major elephant habitats in Karnataka, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
As per the "Status of Elephants in India: DNA based synchronous all India population estimation of Elephants" (2025) census conducted by Wildlife Institute of India, Odisha is home to 912 elephants, compared to Karnataka's 6,013, Assam's 4,159, Kerala's 2,785 and Tamil Nadu's 3,136, Uttarakhand (1,792), West Bengal (707) and Chattisgarh (451).
On the other hand, Odisha topped human deaths in 2024-25 with 171 deaths, followed by Jharkhand (87), West Bengal (53), Ass...