BENGALURU: This November alone, four people died after coming into conflict with wild animals. From April till November 24, 42 people have died in wild animal attacks.
To mitigate rising man-animal conflicts, the Karnataka Forest Department is exploring multiple, out-of-the-box solutions. They include reducing open defecation, radio-collaring tigers, translocating wild cats and immunocontraception of cow elephants staying in coffee estates. But experts advise caution.
The department is looking at forming a special team of experts, scientists and retired forest officials to take up a detailed scientific study of forests and to suggest practical solutions.
A senior forest official told The New Indian Express, “While Karnataka boasts of rising tiger, elephant and leopard numbers, it is also seeing a rise in conflicts. Around 200 elephants permanently stay in coffee estates. Calves are born there and they have never seen forests. To ensure their population does not rise, we are exploring temporary immunocontraception of female elephants. We have requested people not to wander out of their homes during dawn and dusk, from 5 am to 7.30 am and 5 pm to 7 pm. These are the times when animals are running into forests and there is a high chance of people coming into contact with them.”
An official from the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department too confirmed that these are the times when rural people go for open defecation. “Despite constructing toilets, people still go for open defecation and come under attack from wild animals, especially in fields and bushes along forest boundaries,” the official said.
The forest department is also procuring radio collars for tigers. “Tigers that come in conflict, but do not kill humans, aged and reside in buffer areas, will be radio collared whenever captured. Depending on their health condition, they will either be shifted to rescue centres or relocated to other forests, where the population is less. Tigers aged above 10 normally stray out of forests especially when they are injured or their canines are broken. They should be captured. But permission from MoEFCC is needed,” the official added.
Apart from this, villagers are being warned of tiger movements, just like alerts are issued when elephants are seen wandering out of forests in Kodagu. A database of contact numbers is being created at the office of Range Forest Officers at all divisions to send alerts.
Well-known tiger expert K Ullas Karanth said translocation of tigers is not advisable as there have been adverse cases in the past. When an animal kills cattle, the department should immediately compensate the farmers and there is sufficient money with them. But if it kills a human, then it should be immediately killed. Conflict with tigers and leopards rises when they are cornered by humans. If they are let alone, they will go back to the wild, he added.