Human-elephant conflict: Understanding multidimensional perspectives through a systematic review

In elephant range countries, human-elephant conflict is a major concern. In spite of numerous efforts at the global level, mitigation of human-elephant conflict remains a challenge. Hence, the major aim of the study is to review the trends and research gaps found in human-elephant conflict related research. Following the PRISMA protocol, a systematic review process was completed in three steps: Identification, Screening, and Inclusion of literature. The review covered 305 peer reviewed as well as gray literature published between 2017 and 2022, indexed in Scopus, Web of Science and Sodhganga. This study examined the spatio-temporal distribution of research publications and methodologies used to analyse the conflict. This helped to examine the present level of knowledge surrounding conflict and trace relevant trends as efficient mitigation options. The study revealed that literature concerning human-elephant conflict has been mostly recorded in India (23.61%), followed by Kenya (9.51%) and Botswana (8.52%). Literature analysis revealed that 19.67% of publications (n = 60) used models to determine elephant habitat suitability. The results also show that the community awareness program (13.44%) was mostly recommended as a mitigation strategy to reduce the conflict situation. Heatmap analysis further revealed that the most publications represented Geographic Information System and remote sensing as effective methodology while deep learning methods were mostly a lesser found choice. Lacuna in research was traced towards adaptive measures and effective mitigation strategies through gap analysis of the surveyed literature. This systematic review -based study gives us insights and trends in conflict research and gap areas that need to be at the focus for further research.