The saga of wild elephant Sidda, which strayed out of the forest only to land in a man-animal conflict situation before succumbing to injuries on Friday, forced the forest department to pull up its socks.
Mounting pressure from villagers to tackle this conflict in the region between Bannerghatta and Tumakuru has led the department to hasten its plans to capture trouble-makers from the herd. Sources in the department told STOI there are plans to capture eight elephants and send them to the camp in Nagarahole. It’ll be the second-largest such operation in recent times. In 2014, 25 elephants were captured in Alur of Hassan district.
On October 19, 2016, TOI had reported that forest department plans to capture two elephants in the region. “Now, there’s immense pressure on the forest department as villages, backed by local politicians, are up in arms against the increasing number of human deaths and crop loss incidents due to elephants. We plan to start operations, either in Bannerghatta or Ramanagara, for which orders have been issued,” said a senior department official.
Capturing Ranga too?
Another officer said that kraals (enclosures) to capture jumbos are ready and the operation will be executed in December. Trained captive elephants (kumkis) from Mysuru (some Dasara elephants too), Shivamogga and other places will be brought in. “There are plans to capture Rowdy Ranga, a wild elephant which is said to be the herd leader,” he added.
This herd has been involved, over the past 17 years, devastated crops, and caused 15 deaths. Their turf covers areas around Bannerghatta, Kodihalli at Ramanagara, Kaggalipura, Kanakapura Road, Kumbalgodu, NICE Road stretch near Magadi Road, Savandurga, Shivagange, Dobbespet and Tumakuru town.
‘Not a solution’
Environmentalist Ashok Hallur said, “There’s no doubt that the elephants are in conflict situations. But capturing elephants and relocating them isn’t a permanent solution. We need to look at the problem holistically. The forest fragmentation, loss of habitat and threat to elephant corridors are the main issues to be tackled.”
BJ Hosmath, PCCF (wildlife) told STOI that initially they plan to capture three elephants. “We’ll take a call on capturing others. Preparation for the capture operation are on. Hopefully, we’ll capture Rowdy Ranga too,” he added.