KOCHI: A recent incident where a herd of elephants made an abandoned estate their home for more than a month following the birth of a calf has triggered a debate about the need to redevelop the natural elephant habitat in Chinnakanal.
Videos of a nine-member herd crossing the road with the newborn have gone viral.
Following the translocation of the tusker Arikomban, wildlife conservationists have been demanding steps to reopen the elephant corridor connecting the Munnar landscape with Periyar Tiger Reserve.
They say Chinnakanal has been a natural habitat of elephants and herds still frequent it. However, the 301 Colony tribal settlement, established in 2001, resulted in the fragmentation of the corridor. And as resort owners and farmers started installing fences around their land, it obstructed the free movement of herds.
“A herd with nine elephants visited Chinnakanal and roamed Pethatti and Njandar areas for a few days in December. It returned to Njandar in February and a female elephant delivered the calf on February 24. After the delivery, the herd shifted to the abandoned KRV Estate.
On March 25, it marched through Korambara, Thalakulam, Thondimala areas and entered the forest through the Anayirangal dam area. The behaviour of the herd revealed their attachment to the Chinnakanal habitat,” said R Ajayan, a farmer in Santhanpara.
According to Ajayan, elephant herds are a frequent presence in Chinnakanal, which has intensified human-wildlife conflict in the area.
“The decision to establish the 301 Colony in the elephant corridor was a blunder. Only 37 families remain in the colony. As many as 49 people have died in the area since 1995. If the government can relocate these families and free the habitat, it will help ease the conflict,” he said.
“Herds from Tamil Nadu arrive in Santhanpara through the Chakkulathu Mettu-Udumbanchola-Chathurangapara corridor. We recorded the delivery of a calf in the area in February. The area is important from a conservation point of view. There were proposals to relocate the residents of 301 Colony to revenue land and to construct wildlife crossings on the national highway at Thondimala and Sankarapandian Mettu to ensure free access to the elephant corridor,” forest section officer Harrison Sasi said.
According to conservationists, the residents of 301 Colony have leased their land to cardamom farmers.
Leaseholders erect fencing, which disrupts the movement of elephants. Dismissing claims of an emotional connect of elephants with Chinnakanal, wildlife researcher P S Easa said these are anthropomorphic interpretations which attribute human traits to animals.
He said the corridor connecting Chinnakanal and Devikulam should be reopened to ensure free movement of elephants. A senior forest official said elephant births are frequently reported in Chinnakanal.
There was one reported in the area in 2021, followed by others at Mankulam tea estate and Vaguvarrai. The 100 sqkm area extending from Chinnakanal and Mathikettan to Bodimettu is a natural habitat of elephants. It is their foraging ground. There must be something ingrained that connects the animals to the region, he said.