AN increasing number of humans are being killed by wild elephants each year in Bangladesh - with many of the fatalities occurring because people settle in the animals' migration corridors.

Bangladesh is home to only an estimated 227 wild Asian elephants, but up to 100 more migrate through the country each year, mostly through the north and northeast, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

As more people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, settle in the elephant corridor areas, they are more likely to be attacked by confused, angry pachyderms.

There are now hundreds of villages along the densely-forested Indian border and residents of the area say they frequently have to drive away herds of wild elephants that come to raid their paddy fields and fruit trees.

During harvesting season, the villagers form night patrols and use kerosene torches, firecrackers and drums to drive the elephants away, but these efforts are becoming increasingly futile.

Tribal leader Luise Neng Minja said the elephants, which shelter in the forest during the day and come down to villages at night, used to flee but now they are no longer so scared.

"I've seen an elephant snatch a torch from a man with its trunk while we were driving away a herd, and throw the flame on a house, setting it on fire," said Luise, 51.

Professor Anwarul Islam, head of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, said it was no surprise the villagers' tactics were failing.

"You cannot imagine how intelligent the elephants are, they are quick to learn human strategies and they find tricks to avoid them," he said.

"They are hungry, so they defy villagers' defenses and attack to eat crops and fruits," he added.

According to a 2004 IUCN study, the most recent data available, 39 people were killed in the study year of 2001-2002, while seven elephants were killed by people in the same period.

Officials say the direct financial losses caused by elephants are estimated at 30 million taka (US$500,000) annually, with this figure rising every year.

Wildlife expert and lead author of the 2004 IUCN study, Mohsinuzzaman Chowdhury, said elephants in Bangladesh are reacting naturally to a shortage of suitable habitat.

"Fencing on many parts of the India-Bangladesh border has severely disrupted the elephants' movement, leading to an acute food crisis for elephants," he said.

"Finding a solution will be tough," Mr Chowdhury said, suggesting that preventing ongoing deforestation was also essential.

The government of Bangladesh, however, has done little to reduce the rising problem of human-elephant conflict and settlement of elephant corridors continues unabated.

"An awareness campaign to prevent deaths of villagers has started," said the government's top conservation expert Tapan Kumar Dey. "But otherwise we have a lot more to do."

Originally published as Flame-throwing elephants clash with humans