BANGALORE: Karnataka will soon have two more elephant camps at Dandeli and Bheemeshwari to accommodate the rogue jumbos captured from the human-elephant conflict regions of the state.
Presently, the state is home to 10 elephant camps accommodating more than 100 captive animals.
Speaking to Express, PCCF (Wildlife) Vinay Luthra said, “The new camps will come up in a couple of months as the 16 pachyderms that were captured recently need to be housed, fed and looked after. Existing bigger camps will also be broken up into smaller ones as ideally a camp should have seven to eight animals. There is no resource crunch as we have enough funds to run these camps.”
Meanwhile, wildlife conservationists stress that new camps should be set up far away from wildlife parks and sanctuaries.
“Camps must not be located within or even in the vicinity of wildlife reserves due to various negative impacts like creation of human settlements, degradation of forests around the camp etc. The ones at Mathigod and Balle in Nagarahole Reserve, Bandipur and Rampura in Bandipur Reserve and K Gudi in BRT Reserve must be relocated outside to suitable areas where captured elephants can get proper facilities and care,” said Praveen Bhargava of Wildlife First.
Debunking this theory, Luthra said, “All the camps are either on the fringes of the wildlife reserves or on the roads. They are no way inside the reserves. To address conflict situations, we capture and keep these big mammals in camps. Since they are used to big spaces, we let them in the forests. After all they were meant to be free in the wild.”
The CLIC Abroad Foundation, which is involved in studies of indigenous cultures and human relationship to animals and land say that the condition of both elephants and mahouts are pathetic in many camps.
Founder, D K Bhaskar said, “At Anechowkur or Sakarebailu elephant camps, which are classic cases of trampling of precious forest ecosystem, the conditions are pitiable. The staff live in tents and hovels without water and sanitation facilities. They have to walk half a kilometre for water while a family of five are housed in hole-like structures. Once mahouts were patronised by the royal families, but they are in a bad shape today with none of their children ready to take up this profession.”
Conservationists further opine that the introduction of these animals in a camp-like habitat will not work in the long run.
There may be comprehensive problems in the future as the life span of an elephant is 55-65 years compared to 10-12 years of a tiger or leopard, Bhargava said.
“When captured elephants are left in the forests, they destroy the habitat and then it becomes easier for human settlements to come up,” he added.
Where are the present camps?
The five big camps at Anechowkur, Sakrebailu, Dubare, Ramapura and Bandipur are full, housing nearly 90 animals. K Gudi, Balle, Anecadu, Mathigodu and Cauvery Nisargadhama shelter the remaining elephants.