India's Assam state has launched a mobile app that aims to reduce deaths caused by wild elephants. The initiative was announced before World Elephant Day, which we celebrate today, BNR reported.
The application "Haati" will warn people of approaching herds of elephants and allow them to leave the area, the BBC reports. It was developed by the biodiversity organization Aaranyak, which is one of the largest in Northeast India. The app also contains functionality for victims and their relatives to seek compensation from the local government in case of injury or death due to an animal attack. The organization also publishes a guide to solar-powered fences that can repel elephants.
According to the "World Wildlife Fund" There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants living freely, but half a million families in India are affected by the animals eating local crops.
The state of Assam is home to many of the country's elephants and there have been numerous animal deaths as well as human deaths as a result of their interactions.
Conservationists say that Assam's elephants are becoming more aggressive because their habitat is shrinking and even the traditional paths they use for movement are also being affected by human activity.
The announcement of the app was made on the eve of World Elephant Day, which we observe today. The Red List of Threatened Species lists African elephants as vulnerable and Asian elephants as threatened due to poaching, habitat loss, conflict between elephants and humans, and their illegal capture for tourism activities.