THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Wild and captive. The elephant conservation challenge for Kerala is two-pronged. Captive elephants are worshipped as the embodiment of Lord Ganesha, but the torture of elephants is part and parcel of the money-spinning sector. At the same time, people who worship such jumbos kill wild tuskers mercilessly in what could be termed as ‘retaliatory killing’ on the forest fringes.
According to the Heritage Animal Task Force, as many as 245 wild elephants were killed on the forests bordering Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the past one year (from October 4, 2017, to October 3, 2018). Of these, 48 were tuskers, 120 female elephants and 77 calves. Further, 49 of them died of electrocution and 45 of poisoning.
According to a senior forest officer, retaliatory killing of elephants is among the major challenges being faced by the Forest Department.
In recent years, as many as 25 wild elephants were killed on the forest fringes of Wayanad, one of the worst human-elephant conflict corridors in the state. Given such incidents, human intervention is the major driving force behind the escalating violence. For instance, change in land use and crop on forest fringes attract wild elephants to farmlands.
When enough fodder is available for jumbos in areas close to the forest, they naturally would foray into the fields as animals have a tendency to conserve their energy. “We have to adopt a farming system that does not attract jumbos to farmlands close to forests, rather than constructing fences spending crores of rupees,” the officer said, adding, “Another factor in mitigating the man-animal conflict is the relocation of villages inside forests to revenue land elsewhere.
Keeping a Kumki squad will help the state identify habitual crop raiders and isolate them from the herd.” elephantine problem.
In Kerala, a total of 245 wild elephants and 40 captive elephants were killed between Oct 4, 2017, and Oct 3, 2018. Of the captive elephants that died in the age group of 17-36, six were females and the rest 34 males. Of the 245 wild elephants that died, 48 were tuskers, 120 female elephants and 77 were calves
49 wild elephants died of electrocution; 45 elephants died of poisoning