Experts rule out translocating wild elephants

An expert team led Ajay Desai, a consultant for the World Wildlife Fund
and member of Asian elephants specialist group of International Union for
Conservation of Nature, has suggested against translocating wild
elephants – Vinayakan and Chinna Thambi – from the Thadagam Valley.

The team has been camping near the valley since Monday and studying
the movements of both the wild elephants.

The team has also opined that the use of kumkhi elephants to chase both
the wild elephants into forest would be ineffective. It cited the weight of
the wild elephants higher than the kumkhis brought in to chase them into
forest. The final report of the team will be submitted to the forest department on Friday.

“Translocating Vinyakan and Chinna Thambi is not a solution to solve the current problem in Thadagam Valley,” said a source in the team.

“Even if the wild elephants are translocated, other elephants who migrate to the region would continue entering human habitations. There is no study conducted in Tamil Nadu to know the success rate of translocation of elephants,” the source said.

For the past few months, Vinayakan and Chinna Thambi have been entering human habitations and raiding farmlands in Thadagam Valley. Six people, including a forest staff, had died since the conflict began.

While farmers have been demanding the forest department to translocate the wild elephants, the department has roped in Ajay Desai to recommend solution for the problem.

To solve the human-elephant conflict permanently, a detailed study should be conducted to understand what drives the elephants out of forest, the source said.

There might be several reasons, including loss of elephant habitat inside the forest and encroachment on elephant corridors, for the elephants to enter human habitations.

“Physical barriers like elephant-proof trenches (EPT) and fencing should be strengthened to prevent elephants entering the human habitations,” the source added.

In the past nine years, the elephants in the region did not migrate to other locations. Over a period, they have shrunk their home range between Marudhamalai and Palamalai. “One of the reasons might be because of the easy availability of food and water throughout the year at the farmlands,” the source said. Elephants, in general, migrate based on the availability of food and water.

An official from the forest department said, “Though Chinna Thambi reacts whenever we try to chase them away with kumkhis, Vinayakan continues to ignore the kumkhis as it is bigger than them in size. Even in its musth period, Vinayakan neither searches for a partner nor mingles with herds.”

“While Chinna Thambi is over 3.8 tonnes, Vinayakan is over 4.5 tonnes. Since the kumkhis are not bigger than the tuskers, it is difficult for them to drive away. Only upon deploying jumbo kumkhis along with experienced mahouts, the tuskers could be chased into forest. This is also a temporary solution only,” an expert said.

Meanwhile, CCF of Coimbatore circle Deepak Srivastava said a final decision would be taken only after the recommendations were submitted by the expert team.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/experts-rule-out-translocating-wild-elephants/articleshow/66978295.cms