Coimbatore Collector seeks translocation of wild elephant

Writes to Chief Wildlife Warden after farmers appeal for an end to damage to crops, houses
Coimbatore Collector T.N. Hariharan has requested the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW), Tamil Nadu, to take necessary steps to translocate a wild elephant that has been damaging crops and houses in the Thadagam valley near Coimbatore city.

The letter was sent to the CWW on Tuesday, a day after 150 farmers from Thadagam valley petitioned the District Collector, seeking the translocation of wild elephants that are entering villages.

The letter seeks capture and translocation of one male wild elephant while two male elephants -- Chinna Thambi and Vinayagan, as named by villagers -- were damaging crops in the valley.

The letter said that a male wild elephant was causing problems to the farmers and the public in peripheral areas such as Varapalayam, Pannimadai, Periyathadagam, and Chinnathadagam for the last six months. The animal damaged crops such as tomato, maize, banana and coconut cultivated in areas adjoining the forest.

“Several steps have been taken by the Forest officials to drive the elephant into the deep forest. But, the elephant often returns to these places and causes damages,” said the letter.

In October and November, five persons were killed in the attack of wild elephants in Coimbatore Forest Division.

The deceased included a member of a Rapid Response Team of the Forest Department engaged in frontline works.

A senior official from the Forest Department said that it was for the CWW to take a final call on issuing orders to capture and translocate the wild elephant.

“Capture and translocation should be the last resort if other measures of mitigating the situation fail. The Forest Department is expected to take a decision which balances the Nature and the sentiments and concerns of the farmers,” said Ajay Desai, consultant for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and member of Asian elephants specialist group of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

P. Kandasamy, District Secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said the Forest Department should eliminate the animal if it was unable to translocate it. This request also was submitted to the Collector.

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Jumbo herd wreaks havoc Elephants target grain stocks at homes

"Our house was attacked from two sides. We were terrified. Besides taking away the maize stock, the elephants damaged a bed and a chair kept on the veranda. We stay cooped up inside the house and came out only after an hour after the herd left," he added.

Divisional forest officer of Dhanbad Saurabh Chandra said a quick response team was deputed towards the western side of Tundi Pahad where the herd was staying for the last three days after its arrival from Giridih.

"We didn't expect the elephants to come down from the eastern side as it was not the usual route. Our team comprising 15 persons, including torchmen and members of quick response team, reached the village around 2.30pm," he said.

According to Chandra, the preliminary report suggests that at least eight houses had been damaged.

"We will provide compensation to all eight families within 15 days of the submission of application. The compensation amount will be decided after the detailed assessment of damage and its extent. It will also depend on whether the house was kachha or pucca," he said.

The divisional forest officer said their immediate plan was to restrict the herd to Tundi Pahad.

"it would serve as an ideal place for the elephants because of its dense foliage and presence of water" Chandra said, added that they also requesting people not to keep mahua in their houses as elephants are attracted by its smell.

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Elephant found dead

A female wild elephant aged three years was found dead in a well at Kaithapara in the Thodupuzha range of the Kothamangalam forest divisionn on Sunday. The well had no protective wall. A nearby house was found damaged by the wild elephants.

The residents of the house were away in Ernakulam for medical treatment. It is suspected that two elephants intruded into the area and the female elephant accidentally fell into the well.

A post-mortem examination would be conducted on Monday, said Kothamangalam Divisional Forest Officer Unnikrishnan who reached the spot.

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Elephants damage houses in Rairangpur

A herd of jumbos, which has strayed into human settlements in Rairangpur, has instilled fear in the residents giving them sleepless nights.

The residents of Gorumahisani and Bijatola blocks under Rairangpur wildlife division are encountering the threat since three days. The local residents and the wildlife department officials are trying to drive the animals out of their areas, but till now they have failed to contain the menace.

The elephants have damaged at least 16 houses and a school building besides devouring grains, banana trees, vegetables and pulses in Chhatramandal Kero village under Gorumahisani block. The herd damaged four houses on Saturday night and 12 houses were damaged in Kaduani and Kehjuri villages under Bijatola block. Besides they allegedly devoured stored rice for midday meal and ransacked the furniture of the Khejuri School barging into the campus.

The villagers are guarding their boundaries and burning firewood to scare the elephants to protect their life and property. The herd consists of two tuskers, nine female elephants and calves.

"Depredation squads, consisting of forest staff and protection personnel, have been engaged to drive the animals out. Traditional methods, including beating drums, bursting crackers and rotating fireballs will be used for the purpose. On Saturday, they damaged houses in Bijatola and on Sunday they reached Khejuri forest," he said.

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Farmers quiver as tuskers wreck crops and property

Mar 5, 2018-A herd of wild elephants has been wreaking havoc at Punarbas Municipality in Kanchanpur district near the Indian border for the past one week.

The marauding wild tuskers destroyed 38 houses and damaged crops in fields located in Punarbas Municipality. The local people are in panic due to the elephant menace in the area. “There was reign of terror when a herd of elephants entered the settlement in Punarbas-9 around 10pm on Saturday and wreaked havoc for three hours. Wheat planted in about five bighas of land was completely destroyed,” said Keshav Prasad Timilsina, a local who is also the chairman of ‘elephant victim struggle committee’.

The farmers are very worried now as the elephants damage wheat crop that is ready for harvest.

Elephant menace is a recurring problem in Punarbas area every year. The tuskers from Dudhuwa National Park in India and Shuklaphanta National Park (SNP) enter the settlements and cause havoc. The local people, especially the farmers and owner of non-concrete houses, have been greatly affected due to the problem.

Similarly, wards No 3, 5 of Punarbas that abut with the SNP are also affected. The tuskers from the park enter the settlement and damage the corps.

“Thirty-eight non-concrete houses were completely destroyed in the municipality in the past few days. Wheat and sugarcane planted in more than 25 bighas of land were also damaged,” said Mayor Dil Bahadur Air. He said that Nepal Red Cross district chapter and Jhali branch provided tarpaulins and kitchen utensils to the victims. The municipality said it provided Rs 2,000 to each family whose crops were destroyed by the tuskers.

Electric fence was set up in Punarbas area with the help of the District Forest Office, National Trust for Nature Conservation, the SNP and Tarai Arch Landscape Programme. The locals complained that the electric fence was damaged in some places and they are not repaired so far. “The tuskers entered from those places and run amok,” said Timilsina.

Mayor Air said that the municipality has allocated Rs 1.5 million budget this year to install and repair electric fence in the affected areas. “We will soon install the fence with the support of other agencies,” he added.

The mayor said the municipality is planning to install halogen lights to control the entry of the tuskers for the time being.

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Odisha tuskers still pose a threat

Forest officials, who have started paying compensation to villagers whose houses and crops were damaged by elephants from Odisha that had come into Seraikela-Kharsawan district near Jamshedpur, are worried that the herd, now stationed in Bengal, may pass through the same area during its return journey.

Standing crops and over 150 houses were damaged and several people of a dozen villages injured by the herd of 18 elephants from Keonjhar forests of neighbouring Odi-sha since November last year.

Seraikela district forest officer A. Ekka said the herd of migrating elephants may return to Odisha by taking the Ghatshila- Seraikela and Rajnagar route.

"The villagers have started getting compensation. I hope this time, they will not object to mahouts operating in the vicinity once they are pressed into service to drive away the herd to Odisha during its return journey. This may take place any day now," he said, referring to the time when a batch of mahouts could not do much as angry villagers refused to cooperate with them after their houses had been damaged.

So far, according to Seraikela range officer Suresh Ram, they had paid Rs 9.55 lakh as compensation to 32 villagers by cheque and demand draft.

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