Towards A Solution To Human-Pachyderm Conflict (India)
Towards A Solution To Human-Pachyderm Conflict (India)
NANDKUMAR KAMAT, Navhind Times
June 30, 2008
The human and wildlife conflicts in Goa were predictable. Ideally both need to coexist peacefully by respecting each other's territorial limits. In a small and rapidly developing state of Goa, the members of the wildlife have no place to survive or hide as human interference is destroying their normal habitats and privacy.
Similar problems are affecting Goa's border areas. There is not enough food left in the fragmented wilderness. It was a pity to read the post mortem report of a young leopard caught and killed at Agassaim. The veterinary surgeon declared that it was without food for at least four days. Naturally just to look for food it had strayed into the village. It had no intention to attack or kill the humans. Wild animals do this only in self-defence and that too only when they feel totally vulnerable.
The rural areas of Bicholim were tormented by four leopards recently. A leopard had even chased a motorcyclist. A leopard was trapped in a house in Miramar two years ago. It was found to have crossed the river Mandovi at night. Several pythons and cobras have been caught from settlement areas and have been released in the wild. But, the people out of fear have killed many. A female leopard was spotted in the Goa university campus as recently as May this year and an alert was issued for the residents.
Once again, a small herd of elephants led by a ferocious tusker is causing havoc in a triangular area where the borders of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka meet. The cultivators in the upper reaches of Colvale river valley are most affected. The elephants have migrated from Karnataka. They are uninvited guests. The poor, marginalised and defenseless cultivators in Maharashtra and Goa are paying a heavy price on account of mismanagement of Karnataka's wild elephant habitats.
Road and dam building works, illegal stone and uncontrolled timber trade have interfered with the normal elephant habitats and animal corridors in Supa, Dandeli and Khanapur. Elephants need a vast territory to roam and forage. Fortunately poacher-dacoits like Veerappan have not been born in this part of Karnataka bordering Goa and Maharashtra.
The local people also venerate the elephants and consider it a bad omen to injure or kill such majestic pachyderms. But the elephants have been so much traumatised after being constantly chased and driven out from one habitat to other that they have been killing the humans out of fear and frustration. We need to understand that elephants are mammals with a large brain, excellent memory and a unique sense of smell. They are considered as intelligent and social mammals. People used to weep after watching Rajesh Khanna's popular Hindi film "Hathi mere sathi". The real hero of the film was a tamed elephant.
But those who have faced the wrath of wild elephants have no sympathy for the killer pachyderms. It is high time for the Goa government to lead from the front professionally and protect the people and their properties from the marauding pachyderms. A forest guard tragically lost his life while performing his duty at Alorna village. This could have been avoided if the forest department were to know about the measures, which other states have successfully adopted.
The human pachyderm conflict should have been foreseen by the wild life managers of the three states. They should have learnt some lessons in managing the pachyderm invasion from Assam's Nagaon district. Conservationist, Mr Sumanta Kumar Goswami, the director of a local Assamese NGO, Green guard nature organisation has developed a low cost "early warning system."
It is a simple mechanism that uses strong, two plus nylon ropes, a few poles and an electric alarm bell. The rope is tied to the poles, at a height of about two metres and the poles are fixed to the ground at a gap of 300 metres. This network connects to an electric bell on a watchtower. There is a detailed report about the success of this technique in the environmental magazine ˜Down to earth (May 1-15, 2008, by Amarjyoti Borah, Assam) which the Goa forest department could refer to and fly in Mr Goswami immediately to suggest the control measures in north Goa. Mr Goswami's system works when an elephant brushes against the nylon rope. The electrostatic interaction irritates the pachyderms and they instantly move out. Besides, the moment an elephant comes in contact with the rope the electric alarm bell is triggered, thus warning the people.
More than 35,000 people in Nagaon have been benefited. To cover a kilometer with Mr Goswami’s device it costs Rs 2,000, whereas the electric fencing costs more than two lakh Rs per km. Mr Goswami built 17 kms of the rope based early warning system to benefit 60 villages. Compared to Assam's Nagaon district the area and the problem in Goa is very small and perfectly manageable.
There are other expensive and sophisticated techniques. The Goa forest department is hesitant to use tranquiliser darts to immobilise the pachyderms because they are not sure that it would work. They could consult the more advanced South African counterparts experienced in relocating thousands of elephants. Not much would be achieved by getting trained elephants from Karnataka or Kerala because the herd would return again to Goa.
The forest department would waste huge amounts of funds on the proposed electric fencing. Once the pachyderms taste cultivated crops, they get addicted to human habitats. This is why with the beginning of the monsoon the herd, which roamed between Maharashtra and Karnataka has now invaded the evergreen Alorna village. It may also enter Bicholim taluka soon unless the government gets better advice.
The state government needs to declare the intrusion of the pachyderms as a natural calamity and consider this a special issue under natural disaster. Since the problem is of interstate nature, the MPs from Goa need to close their ranks and demand technical and logistic intervention from the central government.
Environmentally ill conceived projects like the disputed Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project and the Virdi irrigation project would further endanger the wildlife habitats. Government need to consider the remarks of Mr Jonathan Hutton, the director of the Africa resources trust based in Harare, Zimbabwe regarding a similar problem in Africa.
"Conflict between humans and elephants is escalating as elephants increasingly raid crops, destroy property and endanger the lives of the people defending what is theirs. This enviably breeds animosity among the rural poor towards the elephants. Yet, if elephants are to survive, the goodwill towards conservationists and tolerance to the pachyderms will be vital."
Article at the following link:
http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=06302
NANDKUMAR KAMAT, Navhind Times
June 30, 2008
The human and wildlife conflicts in Goa were predictable. Ideally both need to coexist peacefully by respecting each other's territorial limits. In a small and rapidly developing state of Goa, the members of the wildlife have no place to survive or hide as human interference is destroying their normal habitats and privacy.
Similar problems are affecting Goa's border areas. There is not enough food left in the fragmented wilderness. It was a pity to read the post mortem report of a young leopard caught and killed at Agassaim. The veterinary surgeon declared that it was without food for at least four days. Naturally just to look for food it had strayed into the village. It had no intention to attack or kill the humans. Wild animals do this only in self-defence and that too only when they feel totally vulnerable.
The rural areas of Bicholim were tormented by four leopards recently. A leopard had even chased a motorcyclist. A leopard was trapped in a house in Miramar two years ago. It was found to have crossed the river Mandovi at night. Several pythons and cobras have been caught from settlement areas and have been released in the wild. But, the people out of fear have killed many. A female leopard was spotted in the Goa university campus as recently as May this year and an alert was issued for the residents.
Once again, a small herd of elephants led by a ferocious tusker is causing havoc in a triangular area where the borders of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka meet. The cultivators in the upper reaches of Colvale river valley are most affected. The elephants have migrated from Karnataka. They are uninvited guests. The poor, marginalised and defenseless cultivators in Maharashtra and Goa are paying a heavy price on account of mismanagement of Karnataka's wild elephant habitats.
Road and dam building works, illegal stone and uncontrolled timber trade have interfered with the normal elephant habitats and animal corridors in Supa, Dandeli and Khanapur. Elephants need a vast territory to roam and forage. Fortunately poacher-dacoits like Veerappan have not been born in this part of Karnataka bordering Goa and Maharashtra.
The local people also venerate the elephants and consider it a bad omen to injure or kill such majestic pachyderms. But the elephants have been so much traumatised after being constantly chased and driven out from one habitat to other that they have been killing the humans out of fear and frustration. We need to understand that elephants are mammals with a large brain, excellent memory and a unique sense of smell. They are considered as intelligent and social mammals. People used to weep after watching Rajesh Khanna's popular Hindi film "Hathi mere sathi". The real hero of the film was a tamed elephant.
But those who have faced the wrath of wild elephants have no sympathy for the killer pachyderms. It is high time for the Goa government to lead from the front professionally and protect the people and their properties from the marauding pachyderms. A forest guard tragically lost his life while performing his duty at Alorna village. This could have been avoided if the forest department were to know about the measures, which other states have successfully adopted.
The human pachyderm conflict should have been foreseen by the wild life managers of the three states. They should have learnt some lessons in managing the pachyderm invasion from Assam's Nagaon district. Conservationist, Mr Sumanta Kumar Goswami, the director of a local Assamese NGO, Green guard nature organisation has developed a low cost "early warning system."
It is a simple mechanism that uses strong, two plus nylon ropes, a few poles and an electric alarm bell. The rope is tied to the poles, at a height of about two metres and the poles are fixed to the ground at a gap of 300 metres. This network connects to an electric bell on a watchtower. There is a detailed report about the success of this technique in the environmental magazine ˜Down to earth (May 1-15, 2008, by Amarjyoti Borah, Assam) which the Goa forest department could refer to and fly in Mr Goswami immediately to suggest the control measures in north Goa. Mr Goswami's system works when an elephant brushes against the nylon rope. The electrostatic interaction irritates the pachyderms and they instantly move out. Besides, the moment an elephant comes in contact with the rope the electric alarm bell is triggered, thus warning the people.
More than 35,000 people in Nagaon have been benefited. To cover a kilometer with Mr Goswami’s device it costs Rs 2,000, whereas the electric fencing costs more than two lakh Rs per km. Mr Goswami built 17 kms of the rope based early warning system to benefit 60 villages. Compared to Assam's Nagaon district the area and the problem in Goa is very small and perfectly manageable.
There are other expensive and sophisticated techniques. The Goa forest department is hesitant to use tranquiliser darts to immobilise the pachyderms because they are not sure that it would work. They could consult the more advanced South African counterparts experienced in relocating thousands of elephants. Not much would be achieved by getting trained elephants from Karnataka or Kerala because the herd would return again to Goa.
The forest department would waste huge amounts of funds on the proposed electric fencing. Once the pachyderms taste cultivated crops, they get addicted to human habitats. This is why with the beginning of the monsoon the herd, which roamed between Maharashtra and Karnataka has now invaded the evergreen Alorna village. It may also enter Bicholim taluka soon unless the government gets better advice.
The state government needs to declare the intrusion of the pachyderms as a natural calamity and consider this a special issue under natural disaster. Since the problem is of interstate nature, the MPs from Goa need to close their ranks and demand technical and logistic intervention from the central government.
Environmentally ill conceived projects like the disputed Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project and the Virdi irrigation project would further endanger the wildlife habitats. Government need to consider the remarks of Mr Jonathan Hutton, the director of the Africa resources trust based in Harare, Zimbabwe regarding a similar problem in Africa.
"Conflict between humans and elephants is escalating as elephants increasingly raid crops, destroy property and endanger the lives of the people defending what is theirs. This enviably breeds animosity among the rural poor towards the elephants. Yet, if elephants are to survive, the goodwill towards conservationists and tolerance to the pachyderms will be vital."
Article at the following link:
http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=06302