Contribution short abstract

We explored how cultural beliefs, environmental factors, conservation policies, local tolerance, and socio-economic aspects determine HEC in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in southern India. Our ethnography emphasizes more on animistc beliefs of communities across borders.

Contribution long abstract

We explored how cultural beliefs, environmental factors, conservation policies, local tolerance, and socio-economic aspects determine HEC in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in southern India. Based on these factors, we focus on how HEC magnitudes differ across the three bordering states, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Our ethnography emphasizes more on animistc beliefs of communities across borders: As per local beliefs elephants still follow aanataras (ancestral movement routes). The Soliga community pays respect to an elephant deity Aanabommaraya before cultivation for a better crop yield. We found that elephants’ movements across political borders are determined by ecological factors such as water availability, especially during the dry seasons. Rampant land use changes disrupt Aanataras creating fear landscapes within their habitat. The marginalised communities here experience socio-economic and psycho-social costs. Resultantly, the local tolerance towards elephants is decreasing and interspecies retaliatory killings are on the rise. These sentient nonhumans realise ‘fear landscapes’ and use their political awareness to navigate the shared space. Similarly, given the conservation status of elephants in India, humans are also aware of the political repercussions. We found that elephant agency guides the community’s choice of crop cultivation and daily practices. These interspecies interactions highlight the more-than-human perspectives in the shared space. We found that there are differences in approaches towards elephants based on ethnicity, cultural practices, religious ideologies, and access to government schemes. By delving into anthropomorphism we attempt to question anthropocentrism in a more-than-human world.