CHENNAI: The menace of avuttukaai (country-made bomb) continues to worry forest authorities and conservationists in the State as wild and domestic animals are suffering grievous injuries.
In the latest incident, a free-ranging horse was found with a broken jaw and profusely bleeding after accidentally chewing an avuttukaai in Sirumugai near Mettupalayam.
The injuries were such that the horse could neither eat food or drink water. The animal had to be euthanized, said Nigel Otter, chairman of WVS India.
Last year, an elephant nicknamed Baahubali suffered an injury in his mouth allegedly caused by an avuttukai near Mettupalayam. The jumbo was bleeding. Forest authorities treated the animal by giving fruits laced with medicine and were even contemplating tranquilizing it to provide necessary care.
For several days, a team followed Baahubali and monitored it. Fortunately, the elephant was able to recover from wounds without the need for tranquilising. In another incident last year, a female elephant was injured after biting avuttukai.
The animal was captured after it damaged crops near Athimathiyanur in Karamadai forest range and it died. Following the postmortem examination, the forest department confirmed that the animal was injured due to avuttukai.
A senior forest official told TNIE that country-made bombs are prevalent in human-wild boar conflict hotspots. Farmers insert them into a bait to kill wild boars, which damage their crops. But, inadvertently, elephants and domestic animals like cows and horses get injured.
The State government has constituted a 19-member joint committee which includes forest officials, scientists and farmers representatives, to tackle the growing problem of wild boar menace.
The committee, headed by Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy, visited several districts to get first hand information on the gravity of the problem. It also visited Kerala, where there was culling of wild boars. Reddy said shortly the committee will give its recommendations.
Chief Minister MK Stalin had made an announcement in the agriculture budget 2023-24 during the assembly session that it would find a solution to the conflict.
The forest officials said there was no wild boar population estimation available, but based on various factors like compensation claims, farmers complaints with district collectors etc the conflict hotspots have been identified. Districts like Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Coimbatore, Tenkasi, Thanjavur, Dindigul and Erode are reporting high percentage of crop damage and negative interactions with wild boars.