The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Elephants get some more space

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Friday, Dec 21, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Elephants get some more space

Staff Reporter

Forest Department gets land to broaden corridor for animals’ movement

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Sealing a partnership: I.B. Srivastava, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife (left), receiving the title deeds for land to expand an elephant corridor from Vivek Menon, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India, in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: The Wildlife Trust of India on Thursday handed over to the Forest Department the title deeds to 25.5 acres of agricultural land that comes in the path of the movement of elephants between the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Sanctuary and Kollegal forest, thus broadening the area of the corridor for unhindered movement of the animals between the two habitats.

The Trust also handed over to the Forest Department another patch of land in Thirulankunnu after rehabilitating and paying compensation to people living in the area. This land lies in the corridor connecting the Brahmagiri Hills Sanctuary in Karnataka with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala. The land was purchased by the Trust and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Securing corridors

This is part of Trust’s plan to coordinate with Forest Departments in securing elephant corridors that face the threat of fragmentation. It has started with two corridors in south India, which has the largest population of elephants in Asia. According to a study by the Trust, there are 88 elephant corridors in the country.

“We do not want this mighty animal to suffer and face the threat of extinction by restricting it to a particular place,” said M.K. Ranjitsinh, Chairman of the Wildlife Trust. He said elephants should be allowed to move from one habitat to another without any obstruction. “You should allow for these animals to have their natural activity and thus increase the gene count.” Isolation of elephants and keeping them in islands will pave way for man-animal conflict leading to the animals being killed.

Receiving the title deeds, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) I.B. Srivastava said the department would take all possible measures to protect the land and ensure free movement of elephants. This land will be made a part of the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Sanctuary.

When his attention was drawn to the elaborate legal process involved in declaring the land a part of the sanctuary, Mr. Srivastava said steps would be taken to declare the area a “conservation reserve” under the Environment Protection Act.

More in store

Mr. Srivastava told The Hindu that the Forest Department was looking forward to similar help from wildlife conservationists with regard to three other elephant corridors in the State. They are the Karadikkal-Madeswara corridor connecting the northern and southern portions of the Bannerghatta National Park, the Chattiramdoddi-Hunsanhalli corridor connecting the Bannerghatta National Park and the southern part of the Hosur division of the Tali Forest Reserve, and the Chamarajanagar-Talamalai corridor connecting Chamarajanagar and Satyamangalam forest divisions.

Earlier, speaking at a workshop on “Securing elephant corridors for long-term conservation of Asian elephants in India”, Executive Director of Wildlife Trust Vivek Menon said it took some time to convince conservationists to invest money in India where availability of land is scarce. The Trust has been successful in offering a better deal to people, including tribes, who have been displaced from the forest.

Identification

The Director of the Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Ecological Sciences, R. Sukumar, spoke about the process involved in identification of elephant corridors and the rehabilitation package.

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