taken to the so-called Elephant Training Centers where they languish, lost to the wildlife population. According to the World Wildlife Fund, these confrontations are the leading cause of elephant deaths in Asia. The pathetic plight of Kallur Komban, a wild tusker who was captured from the forests of Wynad in Kerala for "raiding crops" epitomizes the conundrum, as his condition briskly deteriorates.

Deccan Chronicle Kallur Komban remains in this tiny enclosure since his capture in November 2016.

The forest authorities are currently mulling over the capture of two "rogue tuskers" and "marauding jumbos" who are "menacing" the local residents near Munnar district. These instances are a stark reminder that proactive and strategic measures need to be taken immediately in curbing human-elephant conflicts. The harsh reality is elephants are one ofthe first species to suffer the consequences of habitat fragmentation, development, and agriculture. Being the largest living land mammal, they require larger areas to roam, as well as more food and water than most other mammals. This makes it difficult to coexist with people in areas where agriculture is the dominant form of land use. 'One of the largest conservation challenges in Asia today' The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) puts it succinctly: "The long-term future of elephants outside protected areas, as well as in some protected areas, is therefore inextricably linked to mitigating such human–elephant conflicts, and this is one of the largest conservation challenges in Asia today." Even in the early part of the twentieth century, more than 100,000 Asian elephants thrived across Asia,