Ten elephant corridors in Odisha viable for restoration

Ten of the 14 proposed elephant corridors identified to facilitate unhindered movement of jumbos and prevent their inbreeding have been found viable for restoration in Odisha.

Raman Sukumar, noted elephant expert and professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said not all the 14 elephant corridors identified by the State government can be restored for a variety of reasons.

Prof. Sukumar has been roped in by the State government to prepare a management plan for elephant reserves, assess carrying capacity of forests with respect to elephant population and firm up an action plan for the future.

‘Need to be realistic’


“We are assessing which are the viable corridors that can be protected and strengthened for elephant movement. There is no point in drawing a line on a map identifying corridors. We need to be realistic,” he said speaking to reporters here recently.

“I am not in favour of large-scale land acquisition. Land is a very sensitive issue. We have to identify very strategic area that holds the corridor almost like a crutch. We will require small land parcel to stitch the corridors,” he said.

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