5-Year GPS Study Maps How Elephants Navigate Tea Estates, Farms And Forests In Assam

Guwahati: A five-year satellite tracking study has provided new insights into how wild elephants navigate Assam’s forests, tea plantations, agricultural areas and riverine habitats, yielding “crucial” data to strengthen habitat protection and mitigate conflict with humans.

Wildlife officials and conservation ecologists tracked four female-led herds and a solitary male elephant in three high-conflict districts of Udalguri, Sonitpur and Biswanath – all on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra – between April 2021 and June 2026 for the “breakthrough” study.

The findings, by Assam Forest Department and WWF-India, are published in a report titled ‘Tracking the Giants: Movement and Habitat-Use Patterns of GPS-Collared Elephants in Assam’. It was released on Tuesday, October 6, by Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah during the 72nd Wildlife Week in Guwahati.

The study generated more than 38,000 GPS locations, providing high-resolution data on seasonal movements across multi-use landscapes.