New Delhi, Aug. 15 -- Human deaths caused by elephants and elephant deaths have increased in recent years across Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with habitat degradation, fragmentation, water scarcity and infrastructure projects affecting elephant movement and pushing the animals closer to human settlements, according to a new technical report by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The report, titled Regional Action Plan for Comprehensive Understanding & Management of Human-Elephant Conflict in South India, was launched by the environment ministry in Visakhapatnam on August 13 as part of World Elephant Day 2026 celebrations. It seeks to provide a regional framework to address human-elephant conflict across the four stat...