A fresh clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment may be required for capturing and taming 25 elephants which are creating havoc in Hassan district.
In last 10 years, wild elephants have killed 34 people in Alur and Arkalgud taluks, besides damaging crops worth crores of rupees, according to an official of the Hassan forest division.
The recently held State Cabinet gave its approval to capture around 25 wild jumbos which are raiding fields and attacking people in Alur-Arkalgud region of Hassan district. The decision was taken following the recommendations of the Elephant Task Force constituted by the High Court to check the man-elephant conflict in the state.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Ajay Mishra told Express: “The Ministry of Forests and Environment had given permission for translocation of two elephants in 2009 and 25 elephants in 2011 after the jumbo menace reached its peak in Hassan district.”
The Task Force had recommended that all elephants in Alur-Arkalgud region, currently estimated to 25, be removed as soon as possible through capture and retain them in captivity.
Further, the Forest Department, in consultation with experts, install suitable barriers along the boundary of a conservation or co-existence zone, to ensure that there is no further dispersal of elephants into the region, he added.
Mishra said any matter, be it capturing, relocation or captivity of elephants, needs clearance from the Ministry concerned. So in this case too, the Forest Department will abide by its verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the Task Force report, and see whether fresh clearance was required from the Forest Ministry. “Getting clearance from the Ministry is not a problem as we will send a copy of the court’s verdict,” he added.