KRISHNAGIRI: The Hosur forest division will soon put in place a warning system to inform people about movement of wild elephants. This is part of measures such as fixing red warning lights and digital information board in vulnerable areas to prevent human- animal conflict in the district, said Hosur wildlife warden K Karthikeyani.
“SMSes are being sent to farmers to warn them about elephant movements since December 2023. There are seven forest ranges in Hosur forest division and about 40 village groups have created in all ranges. Each group has 10 to 15 farmers and over 400 farmers in the group. Each ranger will send SMS alerts about jumbo movements to farmers every night.
Besides, WhatsApp community called ‘Thadam’ has been created in all seven ranges to send warning messages. By next month, red warning lights will be installed at 20 places in the forest ranges. This method is being used successfully at Valparai in Coimbatore. Digital information boards will be erected in Krishnagiri and Hosur forest ranges to give information about jumbo movements,” said Karthikeyani.