If one elephant or a leopard enters the city, there could be all round
panic. But there was a time when elephants used to frequent the city.
Just about 20 years ago, a herd of 30 elephants had visited
Doresanipalya near JP Nagar of South Bengaluru.
The incident was recalled by KS Sugara, principle chief conservator of
forests (wildlife), at an event to celebrate the International Day of
Forests and organised by the Karnataka Forest Department, here on
Tuesday.
“Believe there was no panic or conflict then. It was because there was
no fragmentation of forests and elephants found their way back to the
woods. Apart from the forests under the department, there was 15 to 20
lakh hectares of wooded area, which was basically private land then.
Now it has reduced to 5 lakh hectares,” he added.
Detailing the increasing cases of human-animal conflict, Sugara said
the department has captured 40 elephants and 42 leopards in the last
three years. “At the same time there are human lives lost and crops
have been destroyed.
In India, there is also a growing challenge for conservation because
of the human centric approach we have,” he added.
P Ravikumar, additional chief secretary, GOK, said the interaction
between forests and people is limited for various reasons. “The
department should take the message of forest conservation to the
masses,” he added.
A special postal cover to mark the occasion was also released by the
postal department.