2-pronged strategy to handle the man-animal conflicts

Coimbatore: The Forest Department has embarked on a two-pronged strategy to handle the man-animal conflicts arising out of the frequent straying of wild elephants into human habitations.The first effort was to prevent their straying by digging trenches and erecting solar fencing in the conflict-prone pockets. In the event of the elephants still getting into human habitations, the authorities have proposed to set up a permanent camp for kumki (tamed/trained) elephants at Pooluvampatti.During last November and December, straying of wild elephants into human habitations caused enough problems and pressure for the Forest Department. Following the frequent incidents of a herd of four elephants straying into Sundarapuram, Madukkarai and Chettipalayam areas, the Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, R. Kannan and the District Forest Officer, I. Anwardeen, have planned the strategy to combat the menace.

At present, for a stretch of six km from Mailkal till Ayyasamy hills via Arivoli Nagar, the authorities have started erecting solar fencing at Rs. 9.6 lakh.This particular stretch proved to be the worst pocket in terms of the herd straying frequently, said A. Soundarajan, Range Officer, Coimbatore. The authorities were confident of completing the work in 20 days before the summer season, a time when the pachyderms would prefer straying into human habitations for fodder and water.The stretch along the fringe areas of the forest would also have a trench. The trench dug up recently proved to be inadequate. It measured 2.5 mt in width and two mt depth. Authorities were hesitant to deepen or widen the trench further fearing that the elephants might fall and sustain injuries or could even prove fatal thus forcing the rest of the herd to react violently.

During the recent crisis period, the authorities mobilised the kumki elephants from Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Top Slip and Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the Nilgiris to chase the herd back into the jungles.Instead of bringing the kumkis in the event of a crisis, the department has sent a proposal to the Government to establish a camp in Pooluvampatti area near Siruvani hills at Rs. 1.5 crore to accommodate six to eight kumki elephants at a time. Bringing kumkis proved to be difficult because of the time taken for their travel and in arranging transport.Mr. Anwardeen said that already close to 10 km of solar fencing had been erected in the district. Now, the Government, based on the request from District Collector Neeraj Mittal, had given an allotment for another 10 km.The district had 350-km-long boundary of which 65 km of forest boundary that was prone to man-animal conflicts would be provided with solar fencing in a phased manner, he said.

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