Deekshith DV
Daijiworld Media Network – Kadaba
Kadaba, Feb 23: The operation to capture the rogue elephant that claimed the lives of two people in Renjilady-Naila of Kadaba taluk, Dakshina Kannada district, on February 20, Monday morning, has been underway. Meanwhile, it has been reported that the forest department officials have successfully captured the rogue elephant. However, it needs to be ascertained whether it is the same elephant that killed two persons.
The elephant was spotted in Subrahmanya Forest Range, Kobaru, of Mandekere.
After tranquilizing, the elephant forest department officials are making arrangements to shift the tusker. According to sources there are five elephants spotted in the region.
Ranjitha (21), who works at the Periadka milk society, was on her way to work early in the morning when the tusker attacked her near her house. As she screamed, Ramesh Rai (55) went to her rescue, but he too was attacked by the wild jumbos.
After the incident, the locals who had gathered at the scene demanded that the deputy conservator of Forest and the deputy commissioner visit the spot. They also demanded that the officials shift the wild elephants to a taming center. "The administration should arrive at the scene, and only then can the funerals of the deceased be carried out."
Locals believe that a wild tusker and a small herd of wild jumbos are responsible for the gruesome incident. It may be recalled that a youth was severely attacked in Kollamagaru of Sullia Taluk while he was on his way to deliver milk to the dairy.
The constant raids by wild elephants on agricultural lands in the foothills of the West Ghats have plagued farmers, especially in Sullia and Kadaba taluks. Standing crops raised by farmers after toiling hard in the agricultural fields for several days are destroyed and trampled by herds of wild jumbos.
Former Aithoor Gram Panchayat president Sathish K, who is well-versed in the locality, said, "The wild elephant menace has plagued local residents of Meenadi, Kuthrupadi, Renjadi, and Mandi. Earlier, lone tuskers used to come, but now the number of wild elephants entering local villages has increased."
Initially, elephants used to feed on bamboo products in the forest. As bamboo products declined in the forest, wild elephants started moving to agricultural lands in the villages in search of food. Wild elephants were frequently spotted where incidents took place. The forest department should have taken precautionary measures to avoid such incidents. Renjadi to Ijilampady is connected closely to dense forests. In the forest, the forest department found three elephants in Puttige in Konaje village. As the place was not suitable to tranquilize the jumbo, the department had to find a better location.
Vipin Nambiyar, a villager and social activist in Sullia, speaking to daijiworld.com, said, "People in Mandekolu of Sullia Taluk are also suffering from elephant menace. People living near the reserve forest often encounter wild tuskers that enter human habitats and destroy their crops. Farmers grow areca nut, paddy, cardamom, and banana for their livelihood."
The incident in Kadaba is gruesome and has claimed two lives. The forest department and officials should think of precautionary measures. There have been many instances when villagers take milk to the dairy and come across wild elephants on the road. People have to escape from these wild elephants to save their lives, he added.
Mandekolu and other parts of Sullia and Kadaba have over 23 wild elephants. As this region is adjacent to the Kerala border, when officials chase wild elephants from the Kerala border, they enter the Karnataka border. In Kerala, the government has provided good facilities to chase wild elephants, but in Karnataka, we do not have such precautionary measures to prevent elephants from entering agricultural land.
He also mentioned that officials from the forest department have planted saplings of acacia and other non-fruit-bearing plants in the forest. He suggested that if the department were to grow fruit-bearing plants inside the forest, the elephant menace could be mitigated.
The elephant menace in Ajjavavara, Mandekolu, Thodikana, and Halatti in Sullia of the taluk is mostly adjacent to the Kerala border, accounting for nearly 80% of the problem. Additionally, the issue affects about 60% of the Kodagu region and Kadaba Taluk.
According to him, the shortage of staff in the forest department is one of the factors contributing to the elephant menace. In Kerala, forest department officials have trained youths, particularly tribal communities, to identify the presence of wild elephants in the forest. Wild elephants are intelligent animals and sometimes hide underwater in streams when chased into the forest. Officials should provide compensation on the spot rather than making victims run from pillar to post.
Deputy Forest Conservator Dr Dinesh Kumar, speaking to daijiworld,com, stated that five trained elephants from various elephant campuses have been deployed to capture the tusker. The Forest department has formed three teams for this purpose, and the operation has been ongoing for the past two days. The elephant could not be tranquilized on Wednesday due to the dense forest. The teams, along with tamed elephants, Mahouts, and Kavadis from Dubare, Thithimathi, BRT, and Mysuru, have arrived. Wild elephants are frequently spotted in this habitat, but this time, rogue elephants have claimed two lives. The government has given permission to capture the rogue elephant, and 80 staff from the forest department, along with five tamed elephants, 40 Kavadis, and Mahouts, are involved in the operation to capture the elephants.
Human-animal conflict is increasing due to Yethinahole and other hydel projects in the Western Ghats. Speaking to daijiworld.com, Dinesh Holl said, "Several projects have come up in the Western Ghats, destroying elephant corridors. Due to the Yethinahole project, wild elephants are entering human habitats in search of food. Moreover, politicians from all parties are supporting such projects out of greed. Resorts are built in the elephant corridor. Where do wild animals go when their living habitat is invaded? Due to the Yethinahole project, the wild elephant menace has increased in the Subramanya, Panja, and other parts of the Western Ghat. Did people suffer from such a situation in earlier days? It is because of the politicians' money-making mentality with greed that people have to face human-animal conflict."