Karnataka - Madikeri   

Meet on man-elephant conflict in Kodagu on January 18

Madikeri: In a significant step to reduce the man-elephant conflict in Kodagu district, a meet involving forest officials, experts from the World Wildlife Fund- India (WWF) and non-governmental organisations, will be organised at Kushalnagar on January 18.

According to information gathered by The Hindu from the Forest Department here on Monday, the WWF-India has already conducted a study on the man-elephant conflict in the northern regions of the district such as Shanivarasante and Koldipet areas, where shrinking forest cover due to fragmentation has caused more number of elephants into a smaller forest area. Sources said that more than 28 elephants had been identified in the northern regions, with has a depleted forest cover.

Elephants required large areas for living; in which case they would not raid crops. Sources also said that in the last one and half years, 10 people had died and as many elephants had been killed in Kodagu. This was one of the highest incidents in the country. Most of the conflicts arose when the elephants strayed into crop areas in regions inhabited by man. It is said that there are more than 6,000 elephants in Karnataka, the highest population of pachyderms in any State.

The meet is expected to discuss issues such as reasons for man-elephant conflicts, measures to reduce them, translocation, taming, affected farmers, people, herd behaviour, areas needed for grazing, among others. Conflicts were more in the Maldare, Badaga-Banangala, Srimangala, Manchalli, Kutta, areas in the Virajpet division of Kodagu and Kalur, Hammiyala, Pushpagiri wildlife ranges in the Madikeri division, sources said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Meet on man-elephant conflict in Kodagu on January 18
Protest against power project gains momentum

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu