Hatikhuli: How an Assam Village Turned Human-Elephant Conflict into Peaceful Coexistence

In Assam, on the border of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong, there is a small village called “Hatikhuli-Ronghang”.This village was known for frequent clashes between people and wild elephants. Elephants would enter farms, destroy crops, and villagers lived in constant fear.

Today, Hatikhuli has become famous across the world for doing something rare: people and elephants live peacefully together. Now, wild elephants walk freely through fields, and villagers no longer see them as enemies.

The area has forests, paddy fields, and community land. For many years, elephants have used this route while moving from forests to plains in search of food, especially during dry and harvest seasons. Earlier, loss of forest land forced elephants into farms, leading to damage and fear on both sides.

The ‘Hati Bondhu’ idea

The change did not happen because of electric fences or deep trenches. In 2018, environmentalist Pradip Kumar Bhuyan and local conservationist Binod Dulu Bora started a community group called “Hati Bondhu,” which means “Friends of Elephants.” Their simple idea was: instead of chasing elephants away, give them food.

Villagers began growing crops especially for elephants on selected land. These included napier grass (elephant grass), which grows fast and is very nutritious, paddy grown for elephants, and fruits like jackfruit and elephant apple. These fields were kept away from farmers’ main crops. Slowly, elephants started feeding in these areas and stopped entering villages.

The results have been amazing. Over 800 bighas (about 266 acres) of unused land have been turned into elephant feeding areas. Crop damage has reduced sharply, and there have been no deaths from human-elephant conflict in the last eight years.

More than just saving elephants

Hatikhuli shines because of community teamwork. People gave land and time for elephant paths. Women and youth planted and cared for them. Farmers now grow crops without fear and get good harvests. This has brought the project into the national spotlight, with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, himself pointing to this project as an example of natural, community-based conflict resolution between humans and nature.

What visitors can experience

Start your day with early-morning walks in the elephant zones. At dawn, watch elephants stroll through bright green fields. You can even hear the low rumbles of big tuskers moving in the grass. In Hatikhuli, these feeding spots near villages are where herds gather calmly during migration season.

Next, get cultural insights from community-led conservation. Local guides—often farmers and Hati Bondhu volunteers—show you how it all works. They explain mapping elephant paths and picking their favourite crops.

Visitors can stay in homestays, eat home-cooked Assamese food, and see village life, crafts, and music. Hear how peace changed their lives. And forests plus fields burst with Brahmaputra Valley plants and animals. Soft morning light is perfect for pics of elephants grazing against green backdrops.

Hatikhuli is also close to Kaziranga National Park, famous for one-horned rhinos, tigers, and elephants. Many travellers visit both places together.

Best Time to Visit

Elephants pass through and feed in Hatikhuli from August to December, after the monsoon and into early winter. This is the best time to see elephant for feeding. However, the village is welcoming and interesting throughout the year.

How to Get There

Hatikhuli is accessible by road from Nagaon and Guwahati. Guwahati, the nearest major city, has both an airport and a railway station. From Guwahati, head southeast through pretty views of farms, tea gardens, and rivers.

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