the elephants learn that there are large patches of food in agricultural land adjacent to their park habitats and they conduct crop raids; the number of wild elephants is increasing in some severe conflict areas because of the extinction of important local predators, especially tigers; there is movement of elephants between habitats; and young male elephants that do not belong to the herd stray out of the forests (Srikrachang, 2008). There are other economic costs associated with human-wildlife conflict, that can outweigh the direct costs of crop damage and may form a major element of the conflict as perceived by local people (WWF, 1997). The most extreme example of this is human death but other examples include restrictions on movement, competition for water sources, the need to guard crops and property (which may lead to loss of sleep), increased exposure to malaria, and psychological stress (Nelson et al. 2003).
There is little information available on the cost of damage due to HEC in Thailand. However, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)1 in Thailand conducted a survey in Kang Kra Jan National Park (KARN) from 1995 to 2003 and found that HEC events occurred approximately 29 times a month and that agricultural damage cost roughly 3.3 million THB (USD110,0002) a year.