Karnataka zoos to host project on animal population management

Zoos in Karnataka, particularly the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru and the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) in Bengaluru, will be among of the study areas of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehardun, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is carrying out a project on population management of species involved in man-animal conflict in the country.

The pilot project is being carried out under the Centrally-sponsored scheme of Integrated Development Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH). The ₹10.65-crore project has been spread over three years.

According to the WII, the project aims to assess the current status of man-animal conflict with the aim of reducing its impact.

The project has been divided into two phases. Phase 1 will deal with developing the appropriate tools of population control and developing a protocol for field implementation. Phase 2 will deal with in-house production of drugs and large-scale implementation at the field level by the Forest Department.

Under this project, four herbivore species — rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and elephant (Elephant maximus) — have been identified as the focal species, according to information sourced from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, wildlife division.

The project aims to develop appropriate reproductive control techniques for managing the population of “problem species” below the tolerance level, and to understand the ecological aspects of conflict management.

The proposed study will information on the efficacy and feasibility of reproductive control by various procedures. It will also quantify damage by animals in select areas and assess the perception of locals towards resolving human-animal conflict, a note from the ministry, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, said.

The findings of the study will eventually help in implementing effective management practices that will reduce the intensity of the problem.

The study may serve as a “standard model” to be replicated across different geographic regions for mitigating man-animal conflict. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) C. Jayaram said the project has been taken up on a pilot basis and would be implemented in selected populations where the problem has been noticed if the initiative proves successful.

Birth control

“The project deals with contraception for temporary birth control in the species. The vaccine is injected into female species, which eventually stops conceiving for a temporary period. Such a programme was carried out at Kruger National Park in South Africa for controlling the population of elephants,” Mr. Jayaram said.

He said the population of bonnet macaque has increased both in rural and urban areas in the south, like that of the rhesus macaque in north India. “The female bonnet monkeys will be the focal study species in the State,” he said.

Zoo Authority of Karnataka member-secretary B.P. Ravi said the WII has sought permission for carrying out trial studies on nilgais and elephants in the zoos.

CM’s directive to officials

The Forest Department has been directed to prepare a plan to find a permanent solution to the man-animal conflict in the State, especially with Karnataka having the highest density of elephants in the country.

The direction came from Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy at a meeting of officials of Hassan, Chickmagaluru, and Kodagu to discuss man-elephant conflicts in these districts. He directed the officials to submit a plan considering the needs of the next four or five years, a release from the CMO said.

While a total of 71 km has been fenced using rail line fencing, there is a need to construct 400-500 km more of rail fence. The CM also asked officials to seek rail lines at a discounted rate from the Railways.

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Human-animal conflict is clear & present danger, and India can’t afford to ignore it

Increasing human and animal population, shrinking forests etc. have made the conflict inevitable. But it’s not as though there are no solutions.

New Delhi: Killings, retaliatory killings, battles for territory, battles for survival.

We aren’t talking about a political battleground, we are referring to a deadly conflict between human beings and animals in India, which has the potential to turn into a full-blown war. And what’s more, the government has only just begun to take note.

Last week, when six-year old tigress Avni, accused of killing 13 human beings, was shot dead by a private hunter’s son in the Pandharkawada region of Maharashtra, there was an outpouring of grief, anger, and protests from several quarters.

Is retaliation the only answer to human-animal conflict? As the human population grows, forest cover shrinks, and humans and animals begin to compete and jostle for the same, limited resources, do we have the necessary wherewithal to contain the problem?

Just a day after Avni was killed, another tigress in Uttar Pradesh was run over and beaten to death by angry villagers after she mauled a 50-year-old man. On the same day, a leopard snuck into the Gujarat secretariat and the sprawling complex had to be cordoned off.

A week before that, seven elephants died of electrocution in Odisha — a state often known as a “graveyard” for elephants. An adult female elephant was deliberately electrocuted in the state’s Rourkela forest division for frequently damaging crops in the area. The killing was labelled a “revenge killing” — an increasingly common phenomenon as human-animal conflict gradually becomes the order of the day.

According to the Environment Ministry, 1,608 human beings were killed between 2014 and 2017 due to this conflict — an average of more than one human being every day.

Of these, most lives are claimed by tigers, elephants, snakes, leopards and bears.

There is no government data on the deaths of animals due to human-animal conflict.

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Elephants, drones and cologne employed in hunt for Bengal tiger blamed in 13 deaths

(PANDHARKAWADA, India) — The crackle of wireless phone static merged with the buzzing of jungle flies as a group of seven men in olive green uniforms combed through the forests around the Indian village of Pandharkawada.

The men, most armed with batons and one with a gun, could have been mistaken for an army platoon. But these men weren’t military, they were working for India’s forest department and their operation was to find “T1,” a 6-year-old female tiger officials believe is responsible for the deaths of 13 people.

“A sequence of human killings was noticed from June 2016 onward. In the beginning, our staff did not think that this is a very serious thing,” AK Misra, principal chief conservator of forests, told ABC News. “We took the first few cases as routine, the cases that sometime occur as a result of human-animal conflict.”

However, the animal-inflicted deaths turned out to be anything but routine. They were the first in a chain of human killings in the region called Yavatmal, usually known for its cotton plantations and abundant sunshine.

The hunt for T1 commenced in earnest about a year ago. Officials said they underestimated the scale of the task at first.

“She is a very clever tigress. She is killing the baits, but if the slightest disturbance is there, she doesn’t come there at all,” Sunia Limaye, the additional principal chief conservator of forests, who has been working closely on the operation, told ABC News.

The tiger has strayed away from the areas that are usually exclusive forest areas to an area that has a “honeycomb” layout in Pandharkawada, officials believe. In this area, it is hard to tell where forest land ends and farmland begin.

The killings have struck fear in the hearts of people in the more than 25 villages in the area, many of whom are cattle herders and cotton farmers.

Ram Krishna Lonkar, a farmer from one of the neighboring villages, showed ABC News the site of the last killing.

“I was returning home from the fields and saw a crowd had gathered here, right at this spot,” he said. “The tigress had attacked a farmer and killed him.”

Other farmers described how the tigress dragged the man’s body from one side of the road to another.

“In the beginning, it may have accidentally killed some people,” Misra said. “But in the last three to four cases, we have noticed that, in one case, it dragged the human body for quite a long time. Then in another case, it ate up almost 60 to 70 percent of the body. That’s when we thought ‘This is not the normal behavior of the tiger.'”

What’s made the operation even more complicated is the presence of two cubs. Camera trap images have revealed that the tigress gave birth to the two cubs over the past year. Officials estimate they are 9 to 10 months old and she has become more elusive in that time.

Over the past few weeks, the operation has come under a lot of pressure as officials have tried many tactics to trap the tiger and failed. The forest department has deployed 104 camera traps, specialized sniffer dogs, a paraglider to try and see the tigress from the air, elephants and thermal imaging drones. Some reports said they even tried designer cologne.

“We are also using PIPs, or pug impression pads,” Misra said. “An area of land is cleared and if any animal moves across that area, its foot impression is recorded.”

A special hunter from the Indian city of Hyderabad was also called in to help manage the situation.

Animal right advocates have named the tiger Avni and have been protesting the operation to capture or kill her, creating campaigns on social media under the name “Let Avni Live.” Actors, politicians and locals in cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai have weighed in and posted videos on Facebook urging authorities not to shoot the animal.

India’s Supreme Court, the country’s highest court, ruled that it would not interfere if authorities were forced to shoot the tigress while trying to capture her.

“My order says tranquilizing efforts should be made,” Misra said. “If all the tranquilizing efforts fail, then shooting. So it is a very guarded order.”

Many of his colleagues at the makeshift base camp being used as a command center for the operation expressed support for the plan. As the sun set over the large forest, guards said they were hopeful all of this would be over soon.

“The season is on our side,” one guard said.

As the rainy season passes giving way to a drier harvest season, the Lantana plants in the area will slowly become less dense and other vegetation will likely recede giving authorities better visibility in these areas. Authorities believe it will be easier to find the tiger when the area is clearer.

Until then, the central India district remains on high alert for the most-wanted animal.

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Widening elephant corridors via compensatory afforestation

Forest Department aims to facilitate their free movement and reduce conflicts
In a move that could augur well for the future of elephants, the Forest Department is set to procure large swathes of revenue land abutting identified elephant corridors to facilitate their free movement at critical links along the established migratory path.

Deputy Conservator of Forests of MM Hills V. Yedukondalu told The Hindu that the focus area will be around the M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the Biligiriranga Tiger Reserve, where companies will purchase private land and transfer it to the Forest Department.

P. Sridhar, PCCF (Head of Forest Force), said that it was being promoted under the compensatory afforestation scheme in which industries allotted land, anywhere in the State, have to compensate for it by procuring private land abutting forest boundaries.

The thrust is on procuring land abutting forest corridors to ease wildlife migration and reduce human-animal conflict on the fringes.

About 125 acres of land at Badarayanahalli have already been procured by a private firm and the process of transferring it to the Department is on.

“We have identified suitable land to widen the existing elephant and wildlife corridors besides sensitive areas close to the forest boundary where animals tend to come out and stray into human habitation,” said the official.

In all, nearly 1000 acres have been identified for procurement in the long run, said Mr. Yedukondalu.

The Edayarahalli-Doddasampige corridor is also set for expansion for which the authorities have planned to procure 150 acres of land.

“The corridor connects the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple and MM Hills wildlife sanctuaries and is at present around 1.5 km in length. We plan to extend it by another 500 metres and widen the existing corridor to 2 km,” said the official.

Of the 150 acres proposed, around 100 acres will be on the MM Hills side close to Budipadaga village.

Incidentally, an NGO, Wildlife Trust of India, procured nearly 25 acres of land from farmers and handed it over to the State government to secure the Edayarahalli-Doddasampige corridor some years ago and the same was poised for expansion.

Santosh Kumar, wildlife activist, said the plan was welcome provided the local community volunteered to surrender the land besides being paid the market rate as compensation.

However, Mr. Yedukondalu said that people were keen to sell their land as agriculture was under rain-fed conditions and seasonal.

“This is a win-win situation for both the local community and wildlife and will help mitigate conflicts,” he added.

The bulk of the proposed acquisition will be in Chamarajanagar district which is home to Bandipur, BRT Tiger Reserve, MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, which support nearly 3,000 elephants and the land acquisition will widen their migratory path and ease their movement.

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'Won’t use spikes to drive jumbos to forest'l

The Karnataka government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that spikes would no longer
be used to drive away elephants straying into human habitat.

The Centre, also informed the top court, that instructions had been issued to all the principal
chief conservators of forest (PCCFs) concerned to desist from using any method that tortures
the elephants.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered stay on the tenders issued by
West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha to obtain spikes for the purpose.

Advocate Anitha Shenoy, appearing for the Karnataka government, said she had instructions
that all spikes obtained through tenders would be discarded. Henceforth, spikes or any such
method would not be used to drive away elephants.

“We direct that any existing tender will remain stayed,” the bench said. “Wherever spikes or
fireballs are used for driving away elephants, remedial steps should be taken by the states
concerned for removing the spikes and desisting from using fireballs,” the bench said.

The court was hearing a petition by conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra and others on checking
elephant deaths, curbing human-animal conflict and maintaining elephant corridors across India.

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Chhattisgarh: Nod for prosecution sought over reckless handling, neglect of elephant

RAIPUR: Distressed over the “reckless” handling and neglect of an elephant nicknamed ‘Sonu’ that is in captivity since December 2015, wildlife enthusiast Nitin Singhvi has sought approval from the Department of Personnel and Training to prosecute Indian Forest Services officers in Chhattisgarh.

A 60-day mandatory notice has consequently been given by him to Director (Wildlife Preservation-cum-ADG Wildlife), Additional Chief Secretary (Forest department) and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

Sonu was balmed for killing five people, damaging homes and crops. Officials keep him in captivity ostensibly to minimise human-animal conflict.

The High Court, that intervened on Singhvi’s plea, found that the tusker was being neglected and had ordered proper treatment for its injuries. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) had sent doctors from Kerala to treat Sonu.

The AWBI had recommended strong action against those found guilty besides suggesting that the tusker be released in its habitat.

In October 2015, PCCF (Wildlife) BN Dwivedi had instructed that the elephant be released after treatment. However, the three officers continue to violate the orders. “The hapless elephant continues to be in captivity of the forest department,” Singhvi told TNIE.

On conviction, the senior officials will be punishable for imprisonment of 3-7 years besides the punitive fines.

Singhvi sought approval for prosecution under Section 197 of CrPC and, similarly, a notice of 60 days has been served under Section 55 of the Wildlife Act.


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Project radio collar to track elephants

Calcutta: An operation to track the real-time location and movement of elephant herds in south Bengal, which could go a long way in reducing human-animal conflict, will start on Wednesday.

A team of experts tasked with tagging matriarchs of two elephant herds with radio collars will leave Calcutta for a West Midnapore forest on Wednesday morning.

Matriarchs rule the elephant kingdom and using a radio collar on the female leader will enable forest officials to monitor the movement of the entire herd.

Herds from Jharkhand's Dalma range stray into villages in the south Bengal districts of Bankura, West Midnapore and Jhargram every year, destroying crop and occasionally killing humans.

"According to reports from our men on the ground, there are around 30 elephants in south Bengal at the moment, split into two herds. There may be one or two stray male elephants other than that. One of the herds is in the Lalgarh forest in West Midnapore and the other in Jhargram's Jamboni forest," said Sakti Sankar Dey, chief conservator of forest, western circle, who will monitor the operation from Calcutta.

The GPS-enabled radio collars will provide updates in real time about the location of a herd and help track them within the state as well as during migration. A tool embedded in the collar will send signals 24X7.

"This is the first time elephants will be radio collared in south Bengal," Dey said.


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Elephant ambassadors of Kannada

Many States want them for forest duties, but they understand only one language


In a twist in the saga of human-animal conflict, animals captured in one part of the country are helping protect forests in other areas.

Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, which had just 13 elephants to patrol the vast terai, recently imported 10 from Karnataka. Three more elephants will join a proposed elephant camp in Jharkhand’s Palamu Tiger Reserve. Uttarakhand, among the first to import elephants — nine have been working in Corbett Tiger Reserve since 2016 — wants 16 more: six for Rajaji Tiger Reserve and 10 for Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary. “We don’t have permission or trained personnel who can capture wild elephants and train them,” says Digvijay Khati, Chief Wildlife Warden. “In Karnataka, they have a system and were willing to donate.” Inquiries have also come from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.


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In India, an elephant wins freedom from tourist rides and the illegal wildlife trade

It is a heartrending story, but with a happy ending for one elephant. Suman is born into captivity to Champa, one of dozens of elephants who are used to ferry tourists up and down the hills to Amer Fort, a popular spot in Jaipur, India. When Suman is still a calf, her overworked mother, to whom she is very close, falls severely ill and passes away.

Suman, stressed and agitated by her mother’s death, would have faced a life similar to her mother’s – as an elephant giving joy rides to tourists — if not for the relentless efforts of Humane Society International and our partner in India, People for Animals. Last week, in response to a court case filed by HSI/India and PFA challenging the legality of Suman’s ownership, a court ruled that the 10-year-old elephant should be handed over to the state wildlife department. Suman is now being moved to a state-run rescue facility and we hope she will be soon moved to a sanctuary where she can spend the rest of her life in peace and in the company of other elephants.

Elephants in India are a beleaguered species and they face many threats, including habitat loss due to environmental degradation, human-animal conflict, poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, in which Suman was caught up. Studies show that the number of Asian elephants has dropped by at least 50 percent over the last three generations.

It is estimated that 3,500 elephants in India now live in captivity. India’s Wildlife Protection Act, passed in 1972, makes it illegal to capture elephants for commercial purposes, but people who already “owned” elephants at the time the law was passed were allowed to keep them so long as they obtained an ownership certificate. Unfortunately, like Suman, most of the elephants now in captivity are being held illegally and without the required papers.


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Failure of states to respond to Centre's communication on elephant corridors irks SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it was "extremely unfortunate" that several states have not responded to two communications sent by the Centre on the issue of elephant corridors to curb human-animal conflict and reduce animal fatalities. The apex court pulled up these states and noted that only three -- Kerala, West Bengal and Meghalaya -- have so far responded to the letters sent by the Centre in August and November last year. "It is extremely unfortunate," a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

It asked the state, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha and Tripura, to submit their responses to the Centre within two weeks.

The apex court also expressed its displeasure that counsel representing several states were not present in the courtroom during the hearing.

When the counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu said that they would respond to the Centre's letter, the bench said, "Why have you not responded? Do you want another Veerappan (notorious forest brigand)? Tamil Nadu is the hotbed of all this and you have not bothered to respond."

Similarly, the bench also pulled up the counsel representing Assam on why they have not given their response to the Centre on the issue.

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Elderly man killed by wild elephants in C'garh

An elderly man lost his life after he was attacked by a herd of wild elephants in a village in Surjapur district in northern Chhattisgarh, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday.


This is the third incident in the last four days in the northern region of the state, in which an elephant or a group of them killed a human being.

"The incident took place yesterday when the victim identified as Mansai (65) had gone to pick mahua fruits in Sakalpur village forest under Pratappur forest range," Sub Divisional Officer (Pratappur forest range) Prabhakar Khalko said.

There, he was attacked by a herd of wild elephants. When some villagers working in the fields adjacent to the site informed the forest and police officials about the incident, they rushed to the spot, she said.

The wife of the deceased was given an instant relief amount of Rs 25,000 by the forest department, while the remaining compensation of Rs 3.75 lakh will be released after completing the necessary formalities, Khalko added.

The movement of a group of 60 jumbos is being reported in the area from the last few days. The chances of human-animal conflict increase during this season as villagers go in the forest areas to pluck tendu leaves as well as mahua fruits.

On April 9, a 50-year-old man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Pratappur forest range.

Similarly, on Sunday (April 8), a 62-year-old farmer was killed in an elephant attack in Dharamjaigarh forest division of the region's Raigarh district.

"After the recent incidents, the villagers have been advised to take precautions and stay alert," she said.

The thickly-forested northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, are notorious for incidents of human-elephant conflict.

The region has witnessed killings of several people and damages to houses and crops by rogue elephants in the last few years.

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