BENGALURU: To control an increasing number of man-elephant conflicts, the Karnataka forest department is looking at out-of-the-box solutions.
At the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), the department is adopting a military-like tech to tackle the problem. It is working on installing pressure sensor devices, which are placed under the ground and work just like mines. When an elephant steps on them, an alarm goes off.
Explaining the method, BNP Director Prabhakar Priyadarshi said the sensors are being installed in the forest patches of Harohalli range. These sensors are calibrated to the weight of elephants so that the alarm does not go off when some other animals step on them. When an elephant walks over the sensors, placed just before the forest boundary, an alert is sounded and teams will rush to drive elephants back to the forest.
“We are also installing a solar smart sensor watch mechanism, where staffers will get alerts on their mobile phones once the solar line is snapped. Though solar fencing has been done in many locations across the state, staffers are alerted of the damaged wires only the next day. Elephants damage the lines at night when the power supply is less. But now sensors are being installed in such a manner that the alerts are sent to staffers’ mobile phones soon after the lines snap. This is being installed in all four ranges of BNP. Each sensor covers an area of 1.5 km,” Priyadarshi said.
In Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), the department is going the apiculture way to reduce conflicts. It was tried earlier in Kodagu and it was successful for a while, but elephants learnt how to outsmart it. In Madikeri and Hassan, forest officials are using a combination of all these methods -- elephant-proof trenches, rail barricades and solar fencing -- along with other alert systems -- CCTV cameras, SMS, LED screens and even alerts through phone calls.
Principal Chief Wildlife Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Subhash Malkhade said, “We are trying all methods and any ideas are welcome. If any division has a unique idea, they are welcome.”