Pragmatic approach to curb tusker trouble
With four deaths in 48 hours, attacks by wild elephants are not showing any signs of abating in Kerala. Three people were trampled to death in a span of 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday; the body of another victim, a tribal youth, was found on Wednesday. A total of eight persons have died in the state from similar attacks over the last month; the total since 2016 stands at 169. Alarmed by the increasing conflicts, the state government in 2024 had declared human-wildlife conflict a state-specific disaster so that swift action plans can be put together. But a solution does not seem close at the moment.
The primary reason for escalating human-wildlife conflict in the state is the degradation of forests. Almost 30 percent of this densely-populated state is covered by forests. The sharp increase in human population and resultant rise in anthropogenic pressures on forest areas have made man-animal conflicts almost inevitable. Habitat fragmentation, growing settlements along wildlife corridors, rising eco-tourism and changing cropping patterns on the forests’ fringes add to the main cause. Climate change is also said to be a reason for increasing animal attacks during summers.
The foremost priority should be to prevent wild animals from entering agricultural fields and human habitations, for which the forest department should strengthen patrolling in the conflict hotspots. The department’s plan to form primary response teams by recruiting local volunteers to alert people about the presence of wild animals in conflict-prone areas must be implemented at the earliest. The shrinking water bodies and drying grasslands inside forests must be checked and replenished. There are 840 human settlements inside the state’s forests; the government can consider taking over the land in such enclosures and rehabilitating the forest dwellers elsewhere. Monitoring of animal movements using drones and inter-state coordination will also go a long way, as this is not Kerala’s problem alone. The demand for clear vistas on either side of solar fencing along forest borders, culling of animals whose numbers have shot up and translocation of problematic wild animals must also be looked at. Equally important is improving the quality of the forests themselves, which would keep the animals in their natural habitat. A pragmatic and integrated approach is required for effectively dealing the issue of man-animal conflict.