As fire rages for the 4th day in Bandipur forest, activist says warning signs ignored

The fire in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district continued to rage for the fourth consecutive day despite the continuous effort by foresters, firemen and volunteers. The fire which began on Thursday has affected all six ranges of the forest, primarily due to strong winds and prevailing dry conditions.

As a result, 70% of the forest, spread over more than 2,000-3000 hectares, has been reduced to ashes and many wild animals have been killed in all the six ranges. Forest officials have stopped issuing permits for safaris in the forest for next week. Tourist vehicles were stopped from entering the forest area since Friday.

In a tweet on Sunday, CM HD Kumaraswamy said, “We are closely monitoring the forest fire in Bandipur. Forest Minister is overseeing preventive action and forest officials and fire service personnel are trying to contain the fire. I have instructed officials to also take preventive measures for the future.”

Sridhar Punnatti, the head of the forest department and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) told TNM, “The fire is on again after we managed to put it out last night. The fire is mainly limited to Gopalaswamy Betta and neighbouring hillocks. We are trying to restrict the fire wherever we can. There is a lot of strong winds. There is no way we can actually go deep inside and put out the fire. Suppose there is a road nearby, we are forced to allow it up to the road and ensure it does not spread to the other side. There are around 300-400 people on the ground including volunteers.”

Other than the loss of green cover, the fire has increased the risk of man-animal conflicts. Activists on the ground witnessed elephants, spotted deer and sambhar trying to escape the smoke and move towards human habitat.

While the weather conditions remain unfavourable, questions have been raised about authorities’ lack of preparedness.

Wildlife conservationist and activist Joseph Hoover said, “Dry weather, strong winds and the hilly terrain — all these factors are making it worse. But on top of that, the lack of preparedness is visible. There is no Conservator of Forests here, we have a Field Director. He is not there at the spot, so we can expect these kinds of things to happen. There attitude of a couple of RFOs (Range Forest Officers), especially the Kundike RFO and the Bandipur RFO, is lackadaisical. While it is highly impossible to contain these kinds of fires immediately, my question is why weren't we prepared for it? These fires have been going on for the last month in small scales in Kundike, which is a very dry, shrubby area. With the warning signs, they should have been prepared for further eventualities.”

“The Field Director here has been given dual posts of both Bandipur and Mysuru. Moreover, local people should have been taken to confidence as often in the past they being the first responders have dealt with incidents better,” he added.

The Bandipur Tiger Reserve located at the tri-junction area of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and covers an area of 5,52,000 hectares along with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the Nagarahole National Park, to form one of India's ecologically diverse regions. It is home to vulnerable species like elephants, gaurs, tigers and Indian rock pythons.

Similarly, neighbouring Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala and Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai Tiger Reserve saw 60 hectares and 20 hectares of forest affected respectively due to similar forest fires.

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Elephants’ love for liquor takes a heavy toll on human life

Patna: Elephants’ love for alcohol has resulted in alarming rise in attacks on human population in recent months, prompting the authorities to advise them against storing intoxicants at home.

The tribal villagers in Jharkhand have been surviving by brewing liquor from mahua, a forest product used for preparing liquor at home and available in plenty in the nearby forests.

But villagers’ move to store these intoxicating stuff at home is now proving costlier as the rampaging elephants too have now developed a taste for these for this locally-made alcohol, villagers and officials said.

The desperate tuskers are now attacking villages and damaging homes after smelling scents of this alcohol wafting through the air in the jungle which is their homes. Unable to find them, the elephants either eat away the grains stored in the homes or kill the villagers, reports said.

Officials say that is one bad habit of the tusker which they have picked up from the local villagers who are addicted to locally-made liquor available at low price. “They (elephants) can go to any extent and wreak havoc for liquor,” said another forest official.

On Saturday morning again, a herd of some 15 elephants attakced a village in Jharkhand’s Simdega block and damaged five homes before eating away grains stored there. They also trampled one woman to death while other villagers managed to escape after listening to the alarms.

Soon after getting the information, a team of forest officials rushed to the spot and asked the villages to be cautious from the herds of animals. They also advised the villagers against storing raw materials used for preparing liquor at home. “You should avoid storing intoxicants or raw materials, such as mahua (Madhuca longifolia) used for brewing liquor at home as the elephants easily get attracted to them,” a forest official Binod Kumar told the villagers.

In December again, a herd of 22 elephants raided many villages in three districts of Jharkhand and killed five villagers. According to an official reports, more than 1,000 people have been killed by the herds of elephant since the state was carved out of Bihar in November 2000.

Apart from their love for liquor, officials cite the depleting forest cover and shortage of their food behind the increasing man-animal conflicts. Experts say the elephants normally require around 500km of home range to hunt for food and consume 250kg of food and 150 litres of water a day for which they migrate from one corner to another.

But what is serious, the human population is rather encroaching into elephants’ habitats as they battle hard for food, resulting in attacks on villagers’ homes.

Alarmed at the prevailing situation, the authorities are now working on a plan to develop a green wall outside the human population by planting huge number of trees and arrange for their food and water in the forest itself to prevent them intruding into the human’s populace. Their focus is on making large number of bamboo plantation.

“We can’t claim to give a permanent solution to the problem yet we are doing something which could check cases of elephants-men conflicts. In order to achieve this task, we are increasing green cover of bamboo trees and arranging for their water in the forest itself,” Jharkhand’s principal chief conservator of forests Sanjay Kumar told the local media.

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Forest Department to move wild elephant

Farmers demand permanent solution to the region’s man-animal conflicts
The Forest Department has assured farmers that one of the elephants causing trouble in the Thadagam valley in Coimbatore will be captured and translocated within a week if other measures to mitigate the human-animal conflicts fail to yield results. The assurance was given to a representation of farmers from Thadagam valley at a meeting held at the District Forest Officer’s office on Sunday.

Assistant Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Deepak Srivastava, who headed the meeting, said kumkis would be engaged for the operation to drive out the elephants fromThadagam and Thondamuthur.

Setback in operation

“Kumki Wasim from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) will be roped in for driving out wild elephants as kumki John was withdrawn from the field due to musth. The kumki operation will continue for two to three days before taking a final decision. We will try ensure that no decision is taken in haste. We will explore all possibilities before taking the final decision,” said Mr. Srivastava, adding that the Forest Department was concerned about the farmers, their lives and property.

Pointing out that capturing of the wild elephant was a complicated procedure, Mr. Srivastava said at least a week’s time was required to complete the various arrangements.

P. Kandasamy of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, who headed the farmers’ representation, said the APCCF assured them that orders were ready to capture two tuskers — Vinayagan and Chinna Thambi. He claimed that the Forest Department has plans to capture Vinayagan first.

‘Meagre compensation’

“The assurance on capturing one of the wild elephants was given when we informed our decision to file a mass petition and stage an agitation at the grievance redressal meeting on Monday. We also demanded a permanent solution to tackle the conflict situation. A tripartite meeting between the Forest Department, farmers, and legislators (Ministers, MPs and MLAs) should be convened at the earliest to revise the current structure of compensation given to farmers for crop damage,” said Mr. Kandasamy.

He said the compensation of ₹500 by the Forest Department for a damaged coconut palm was meagre compared to the compensation given by the Power Grid Corporation of India.

C.R. Jayaprakash, who does organic farming in Thadagam valley, said many farmers were not applying for the meagre compensation as the process itself was time and money consuming and cost them money.

Tedious process

“Small number of crops are damaged or raided by wild animals throughout the year. Farmers often choose not to claim the compensation as the sum was not enough to repair the damage. Compensation given for one coconut palm is a pittance, despite waiting for yearsthat too after years of waiting. I did not get even that compensation for last two crop raids,” he said.

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Residents prevent forest dept from moving jumbo

KOCHI: Tension prevailed at Abhayaranyam elephant camp at Kodanad early on Sunday after forest department tried to move an elephant from the area to Tamil Nadu to be trained as a kumki elephant. Residents gathered outside the camp in protest after three vehicles came to transport the elephant.

Kumki elephants are trained elephants that are mainly used to drive wild elephants back to the forest when they foray into nearby villages. Neelakandan, a local favourite among elephant admirers, was brought to Kodanad when he was six months old. He is 22 year-old-now and grew up at the elephant camp.

“They were trying to fool us by promising that he will not be moved and later brought vehicles to transport him in the middle of the night,” said M S Sukumaran, coordinator of Janakeeya Samiti that has been protesting against this plan over the past few months.

“We had our suspicions and people were patrolling the area expecting such a move. By night, a forest officer came to the spot in a bike and monitored the area. Later, a forest vehicle and two trucks came. At least 300 persons, including women, came to the spot despite heavy rain,” he said.

They claimed that without their star jumbo, the elephant camp with just eight elephants would hamper tourism. They added that the department is not bringing developmental projects and are now trying to destroy the camp by taking away elephants.

Later, senior forest officials, MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly and other local body members met the protestors. Forest officials promised that they won’t move the elephant until the MLA and forest minister found a solution.

“An elephant from Konni named Surendran, Surya from Muthanga and Neelakandan from Kodanad were supposed to undergo training for 90 days from June 15. Our orders were to take the elephant and the mahout to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve,” said a forest officer.

He added that the department was not in a position to promise anything. “With repeated instances of man-animal conflicts reported in Kerala, it is high time that we have our own kumki elephants. Now, we are relying on other states when need arises. If Neelakandan becomes a kumki, then chances are that he would be deployed in areas where there are constant man-animal conflicts,” said a forest officer privy to the information, adding that a similar issue persists in Konni as well.


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Residents prevent forest dept from moving jumbo

KOCHI: Tension prevailed at Abhayaranyam elephant camp at Kodanad early on Sunday after forest department tried to move an elephant from the area to Tamil Nadu to be trained as a kumki elephant. Residents gathered outside the camp in protest after three vehicles came to transport the elephant.

Kumki elephants are trained elephants that are mainly used to drive wild elephants back to the forest when they foray into nearby villages. Neelakandan, a local favourite among elephant admirers, was brought to Kodanad when he was six months old. He is 22 year-old-now and grew up at the elephant camp.

“They were trying to fool us by promising that he will not be moved and later brought vehicles to transport him in the middle of the night,” said M S Sukumaran, coordinator of Janakeeya Samiti that has been protesting against this plan over the past few months.

“We had our suspicions and people were patrolling the area expecting such a move. By night, a forest officer came to the spot in a bike and monitored the area. Later, a forest vehicle and two trucks came. At least 300 persons, including women, came to the spot despite heavy rain,” he said.

They claimed that without their star jumbo, the elephant camp with just eight elephants would hamper tourism. They added that the department is not bringing developmental projects and are now trying to destroy the camp by taking away elephants.

Later, senior forest officials, MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly and other local body members met the protestors. Forest officials promised that they won’t move the elephant until the MLA and forest minister found a solution.

“An elephant from Konni named Surendran, Surya from Muthanga and Neelakandan from Kodanad were supposed to undergo training for 90 days from June 15. Our orders were to take the elephant and the mahout to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve,” said a forest officer.

He added that the department was not in a position to promise anything. “With repeated instances of man-animal conflicts reported in Kerala, it is high time that we have our own kumki elephants. Now, we are relying on other states when need arises. If Neelakandan becomes a kumki, then chances are that he would be deployed in areas where there are constant man-animal conflicts,” said a forest officer privy to the information, adding that a similar issue persists in Konni as well.



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Jumbo menace rattles villagers near India-Nepal border

Residents of at least half a dozen villages in Champawat’s Tanakpur are spending sleepless night due to marauding herd of wild elephants in the region that forage through standing crop and fruit orchards. Villagers say that they are forced to stay awake at night to drive away the wild herds to save their crops and dwellings. Over the last one year, residents of villages in the region, including Thwalkhera, Khetkhera, Gaindakhali, Naya Goth, Kakrali gate, Uchauligoth and Bastia lived in fear of a tiger that was reported to roaming the region surrounded by dense forest on one side and the other by the India-Nepal border. Four women from the Kakrali gate, Thawalkhera, Naya Goth and Bastia were allegedly mauled to death by the big cats in less than a year while collecting fodder and firewood in the forest, villagers say. This apart, villagers have lost a number of livestock that fell prey to the big cats, some of them say. Following the increase in the incidents of man-animal conflicts in the region, forest officials placed cages and camera traps to catch the big cats in Sharda and Boom range but have failed to capture the tiger, villagers say, and add that forest officials do not respond to their desperate calls for help. Satish pandey, a villager, says, “Whenever we inform the forest officials, they don’t turn up in time to chase the elephant herds so we ourselves, have to ward off the animals by beating drums and utensils or bursting crackers.” “The forest watch and ward staff do not patrol region.” Tanakpur sub divisional officer Rajesh Srivastva, however, says that the villages fall in the periphery of an elephant corridor, which starts from the Rajaji Tiger Reserve to the western parts of Nepal. “Movements of pachyderms along the villages that fall on the elephant corridor are considered quite common.” He, however, says that the elephants do not enter the villages in search of fodder as it is in abundance in the forest. “Elephants by nature migrate from one place to another are known to destroy whatever comes on the way as it is the behavioral instinct of elephants.”.


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Warning system to prevent man-animal conflict

The early-warning system being installed at Ayyankolly, near Pandalur, on Saturday. The Gudalur Forest Division has installed an early-warning system near a school in Ayyankolly in Pandalur, to inform residents about the movement of elephants in the area. Bitherkad Forest Range Officer, C.

Manoharan, said that the system installed near Swami Vivekananda Saraswati Vidyalaya has an alarm and lights that would go on when animals cross sensor attached to it. It will help people to take precautionary measures, he said. The school was chosen to install the system, as elephants used to get close to the school compound on a regular basis. District Forest Officer (Gudalur Division), P.K.

Dileep, who had come up with the idea of installing an early warning system in the area, said that efforts to prevent man-animal conflicts was an ongoing process. The forest department was taking many measures to prevent fatalities in the region, he added..

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