Over 100 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks in Kerala over the past five years, with fatalities nearly doubling since 2019-20. According to data shared in Parliament, 23 people were killed in elephant encounters in the state in 2023-24 alone, taking the total death toll to 102 since 2019.

The figures were disclosed by Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh in response to a question by CPM MP John Brittas.

In India, 2,869 people died in elephant attacks between 2019-20 and 2023-24. Odisha reported the highest number of deaths at 624, followed by Jharkhand (474), West Bengal (436), Assam (383) and Chhattisgarh (303). The annual toll from elephant attacks has been rising steadily across India, climbing from 595 deaths in 2019-20 to 629 in 2023-24. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reported 256 and 160 deaths, respectively, over the five-year period.

In comparison, tiger attacks claimed 378 lives across the country between 2020 and 2024. Kerala recorded two tiger-related deaths in 2020. Maharashtra saw the highest number of tiger deaths during this period at 218, followed by Uttar Pradesh (61) and Madhya Pradesh (32).

The minister also noted that 110 people were killed by tigers in 2022, 82 of them in Maharashtra, while the number dropped to 85 in 2023 and 73 in 2024.

Singh clarified that the Environment Ministry does not maintain national-level data on livestock or crop losses caused by wild animals. On the issue of declaring animals as vermin under Section 62 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, he said rhesus macaques were declared vermin in Himachal Pradesh for one year in 2020.

However, he added that there is currently no proposal to amend the Act to allow states to independently declare animals as vermin. Following the 2022 amendment, Section 11 of the Act authorises the State Chief Wildlife Warden to manage human-wildlife conflict situations.