A classic example of this is the movement of elephants along the Chennai Bengaluru national highway near Hosur. This herd from the Kaundinya Elephant Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh, coming to feed in Tamil Nadu, covering nearly 100km and crossing the national highway to reach the forests in Hosur has become a regular phenomenon. Three days ago, an elephant sustained minor injuries and one of its tusks was broken after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus knocked it down near Krishnagiri on Wednesday. These elephants come for the ragi crop.
Raman Sukumar, professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Science, says that way back in 1983 a herd of elephants from Hosur forests started moving to Kuppam forest after drought hit the region. Only after the arrival of this elephant herd, the then Andhra Pradesh government declared the area as Kaundinya elephant sanctuary. “My observations showed that the herd which landed in Andhra Pradesh from Hosur got split and many smaller groups have formed. One small herd moved towards Tirupathi forests and another towards Cuddappah area. From this group only six animals moved towards Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram districts in 2013 and turned out to be crop raiders. They were captured and put in elephant training camps in Mudumalai in the Nilgiris and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Pollachi,” he said.
Whether these new herds and colonies will sustain will depend on the availability of food. Three decades ago not many farmlands were close to forest boundaries. Today cultivation activities have moved closer to forest fringes, which is also one of the reasons for escalating man animal conflict.
In Sukumar’s opinion, change in farming practices is one of the main reasons for elephant migration. With the luxury of pumpsets, a variety of crops is raised every year and these are an attractive target for elephants.
State wildlife officials say that collaring one of the animals in the group can help in tracking the movement of the herd and villagers can be alerted about their movements. Another suggestion is creating a physical barrier between forests so that elephants don’t ransack human habitations. “It is a tough call that one has to take. Better do it now, when the herd is small. Once the numbers in the herd rise, it will be difficult to manage,” cautions Sukumar.