COIMBATORE: Officials of the Valparai forest range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) have instructed motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, to avoid speeding and allow wild animals to cross the road freely. The instruction is aimed at avoiding road kills as Nilgiri Tahr, Lion Tailed Macaques etc are spotted in large numbers now unlike in previous years.
Sources said the instruction comes in the wake of unusual movement of wildlife on the roads. They suspect it may due to the increasing heat day by day, leading to the movement of wild animals such as Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiri langur, Nilgiri lion tailed macaques and bonnet macaques along with their young ones on the Pollachi-Valparai state highway, giving a tough time for the forest managers.
Speaking to TNIE G Venkatesh, Forest Range Officer of Valparai Forest Range, said “Personally, I have seen these animals roaming along with their young ones. Unlike previous years, I have seen more young ones, indicating their population has increased. We will get clear pictures in the upcoming wildlife census results. Though the check dams and percolation pond at Attakatti along with water troughs in Kadamparai, Akkamalai and Upper Aliyar are filled once in a week for the benefit of animals, they are coming out to the road sides and subsequently they are diverted by the forest staff.”
The forest department has engaged four Anti-Depredation Squad between Puthuthottam to Iyarpadi and two more ADS inside the Valparai town area. (The squad aims to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.)
“The staff have been advising motorists to go slow. We noticed most of the cars are driven slowly. However, the two-wheeler riders remain a headache for us during Weekends as they ride rashly. Last week, we caught a group of more than 15 bike riders who were heading to Kerala and warned them not to operate the vehicle rashly and that they will be fined if they are caught next time. Due to rash driving, LTMs are killed frequently and to prevent it we have posted our staff to control the death of wildlife,” said Venkatesh.