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Available until 12/19/2024 In the state of Assam, in northeastern India, cohabitation with elephants gives rise to violent confrontations. Indeed, more than thirty million inhabitants whose staple food is rice see thousands of elephants regularly cross the tea and rice plantations, ransacking and eating everything in their path. An adult elephant can consume up to 250 kilos of food per day, which is an inevitable source of conflict. The inhabitants, who fear losing their crops, retaliate violently. But Hati Bondhu – a collective of elephant friends – led by Dulu Borah and his wife Meghna Hazarika, has thought of a way to bring peace. The idea is as simple as it is effective: replant the fallow land with elephant grass. Indeed, thanks to the hot and humid climate of the state of Assam, this grass grows at the same rate as rice. When the harvest season arrives, between October and December, herds of up to a hundred individuals come to feed in these fields, which are reserved for them, and no longer destroy the rice fields or tea plantations. More and more farmers in the region are taking part in the project. In the space of five years, the number of conflicts between humans and elephants has started to decrease. An initial success that gives hope for peaceful coexistence. Report by Brigitte Kornetzky (Germany, 2022, 32mn) #india #elephant #artefamily Subscribe to the ARTE Family Youtube channel: / @artefamilyfr Find us on social networks: Facebook: / infobyarte Twitter: / arteinfo