India is home to more than 60% of the world’s wild Asian elephant population, making the conservation of this endangered species both a national and global responsibility. However, rapid habitat fragmentation, expanding agriculture, infrastructure development, and changing land-use patterns have intensified human–elephant interactions, creating significant challenges for both wildlife conservation and rural communities.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the ecological, social, policy, and management dimensions of human–elephant coexistence in India. It explores elephant ecology and distribution, conservation frameworks, drivers of human–elephant conflict, compensation mechanisms, technological innovations, and region-specific mitigation strategies. Drawing on contributions from leading scientists, forest managers, conservation practitioners, and policymakers, the volume presents practical approaches to promoting coexistence through corridor conservation, community engagement, habitat management, and integrated landscape planning. Comparative insights from Sri Lanka further enrich the discussion.

Bridging science, policy, and practice, this book is an invaluable resource for researchers, conservation professionals, environmental managers, policymakers, and students interested in wildlife conservation and human–wildlife interactions.

Ramesh Kumar Pandey is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer with more than two and a half decades of experience in wildlife conservation, protected area management and environmental governance. He has worked in Tiger Reserves and Elephant Reserves of Uttar Pradesh state as Field Director and Chief Conservator of Forests. In Government of India, he has worked as Inspector General of Forests (IGF) & Director Project Elephant, IGF National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Director National Zoological Park. He is currently serving as Additional Director General of Forests & Director, Wildlife Preservation in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. He holds a Master's degree in Plant Sciences and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Social Sciences. He has authored over fifty publications including books, popular articles and research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals.

Dheeraj Mittal holds a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from Delhi University. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and has worked in various capacities in the state of Gujrat, including Gir National Park. He has also worked as Assistant Inspector General of Forests (AIGF) in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India dealing with works related to Project Lion, Project Elephant and Forest Conservation. He has published research papers and review articles in reputed journals, and several book chapters.

Aju Mathew George is working as a Scientist in the Project Elephant Division, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, New Delhi. His areas of research and professional expertise include environmental engineering and wildlife conservation. He is involved in policy development, program implementation, and research activities related to elephant conservation and management under Project Elephant. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur. He has authored several publications in international journals and has presented his research at international conferences.

Gaurav Sirola is a wildlife researcher currently working as a consultant for Project Elephant at Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India. He holds a Master's degree in Zoology from Jiwaji University, Gwalior and is pursuing a Ph.D. from Wildlife Institute of India. With over eight years of experience in wildlife research and conservation, he has authored reports and research papers published in reputed peer-reviewed international journals.