Ipsa Tripathy
Bhubaneswar: On a quiet evening, a herd of elephants leaves the forest in search of food and water. They are not lost. They are following a route their ancestors have travelled for centuries, a narrow stretch of forest connecting one habitat to another. But today, that familiar path is no longer the same. A newly built highway cuts through the landscape. A railway line divides the forest. Mining activities have cleared parts of the vegetation. Human settlements have expanded into what was once uninterrupted wilderness.
The elephants hesitate. Some attempt to cross. Others turn back. A few never make it. This is not an isolated incident. It is becoming a growing reality across India. While the country has made remarkable progress in protecting wildlife populations, a more complex challenge is emerging, the disappearance of wildlife corridors, the natural pathways that allow animals to move safely between forests. Saving wildlife is no longer just about protecting national parks. It is about protecting the spaces that connect them.
What Are Wildlife Corridors?
Imagine living in a city where every neighbourhood is surrounded by walls and there are no roads connecting them. Eventually, people would struggle to reach schools, hospitals, workplaces or even family members. Wildlife faces a similar challenge. National parks and wildlife sanctuaries are often described as islands of biodiversity. But animals do not spend their entire lives within these protected boundaries.
Elephants migrate in search of food and water. Tigers disperse to establish new territories. Leopards move across landscapes following prey. Deer, bears, wild dogs and countless smaller species also depend on connected habitats. Wildlife corridors are the natural passages that make these movements possible. They may consist of forests, riverbanks, grasslands or narrow strips of vegetation linking two larger habitats. Without them, protected forests become isolated pockets rather than connected ecosystems.
Why Are Corridors So Important?
Movement is essential for survival. Animals travel to find food, mates, water and safer habitats during changing seasons. Corridors also allow different populations of the same species to interbreed, maintaining healthy genetic diversity. When forests become fragmented, animal populations become isolated. Over time, limited breeding can reduce genetic diversity, making species more vulnerable to diseases and environmental changes.
For large mammals such as elephants and tigers, the consequences are even greater. These animals require vast landscapes to survive. A single elephant herd may travel dozens of kilometres during seasonal migrations. Tigers regularly disperse beyond protected areas in search of new territories. When these movements are blocked, conflict becomes almost inevitable.
The Cost of Development
India is developing at an unprecedented pace. New highways, railway corridors, industrial projects, mining operations, transmission lines and expanding cities are transforming the country’s landscape. Development has brought better connectivity, employment and economic opportunities. Few would argue against the need for modern infrastructure.
The challenge lies in where and how that infrastructure is built. Many projects intersect landscapes that wildlife has used for generations. When forests are divided into smaller fragments, corridors become narrower or disappear altogether. For wildlife, these barriers are often impossible to understand. Animals continue following ancient routes that now pass through highways, villages and agricultural fields. The result is increasing encounters between humans and wildlife.
Rising Human-Wildlife Conflict
Perhaps the most visible consequence of disappearing corridors is the rise in human-wildlife conflict. Across states such as Odisha, Assam, Karnataka, West Bengal and Kerala, elephants are increasingly entering villages, towns and agricultural fields. People often ask why elephants are coming closer to human settlements.
A more important question may be: Are humans expanding into the elephants’ traditional routes? In Odisha, the Chandaka-Dampara landscape near Bhubaneswar provides a striking example. As urban expansion continues around forest edges, elephants have occasionally been seen near residential areas, creating fear among local communities.
These incidents are often viewed as wildlife entering human territory. Yet in many cases, it is the landscape itself that has changed around the animals. The same challenge affects tigers, leopards and other species across India. As corridors shrink, wildlife has fewer safe options for movement.
More Than Just Big Animals
Wildlife corridors are often discussed in the context of elephants and tigers, but their importance extends much further. Smaller mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds also rely on connected habitats.
Many species cannot survive in isolated forest patches because they depend on seasonal movement, changing food availability or access to breeding sites. Even plants benefit. Birds, bats and mammals disperse seeds as they move through forests, helping vegetation regenerate naturally.
When movement stops, ecosystems begin to lose their resilience. A forest is not simply a collection of trees. It is a living network connected by movement.
What Is the Government Doing?
Recognising the growing importance of connectivity, India has begun placing greater emphasis on wildlife corridors in conservation planning. The National Wildlife Action Plan (2017–2031) identifies landscape connectivity as a key conservation priority. It encourages states to protect ecological corridors that allow wildlife to move between protected areas.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has also highlighted the importance of tiger corridors as part of long-term conservation strategies. Scientific studies have mapped several critical tiger corridors across the country, helping guide planning decisions.
For elephants, the Project Elephant programme has identified numerous elephant corridors across India. Conservation organisations, together with government agencies, have worked to secure some of these routes through habitat restoration, voluntary relocation initiatives and improved land-use planning.
Infrastructure planning is also slowly changing. Several highways and railway projects now incorporate wildlife mitigation measures such as underpasses, overpasses and elevated corridors that allow animals to cross safely.
Examples from parts of central India and Uttarakhand demonstrate that well-designed wildlife crossings can significantly reduce animal mortality while maintaining ecological connectivity. These are encouraging developments. However, experts believe much more needs to be done, particularly as infrastructure expansion accelerates.
Can Development and Wildlife Coexist?
The debate is often presented as a choice between conservation and development. In reality, it should not be. India needs roads, railways and industries. It also needs healthy forests and thriving wildlife populations. The solution lies in better planning.
Environmental Impact Assessments must carefully identify wildlife corridors before projects begin. Infrastructure can often be redesigned, rerouted or equipped with wildlife crossings to reduce ecological damage. Development should adapt to the landscape rather than forcing the landscape to adapt entirely to development.
Countries around the world have demonstrated that economic growth and ecological connectivity can coexist when conservation is integrated into planning from the beginning.
The Future Depends on Connections
India’s wildlife conservation story has achieved remarkable successes. Tiger numbers have increased in recent years. Several protected areas have become global examples of conservation. But protecting animals inside forests is only part of the challenge. If the pathways connecting these forests disappear, isolated populations may eventually face new ecological pressures despite living inside protected areas.
The future of India’s wildlife will depend not only on how many forests remain, but on whether those forests remain connected. Every highway crossing designed for elephants, every restored corridor, every carefully planned railway line represents more than an engineering decision.
It is a choice about the kind of landscape India wishes to create. Because forests are not islands. Wildlife does not recognise administrative boundaries. Nature survives through movement. And if those ancient pathways disappear, the cost will not only be measured in animal deaths or shrinking habitats.
It will be measured in the gradual loss of one of India’s greatest natural strengths—a landscape where people and wildlife have shared space for centuries. The challenge before us is not simply to save forests. It is to ensure that the invisible roads of the wild remain open for generations to come.