Human-elephant conflict, Northeast India

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The Sentinel, Guwahati, 09 July, 2005

 

Pachyderm raid in cropland a menace in S Kamrup

 

From our Correspondent

CHHAYGAON, July 8: With the State facing unabated man-elephant

conflict in several parts, the south Kamrup is also not lagging

behind. Management of wild elephants in Rani Forest Range and

Loharghat Forest Range in south Kamrup is a very difficult task and a

sound mechanism to reduce man-elephant conflict needs to be

discovered, according to Forest sources.

 

Biswajit Roy, Range Officer, Rani Forest Range under Kamrup East

Forest Division, while talking to this correspondent said that every

year about 150 wild Asiatic elephants (Eliphus maximus) came down

from the jungle-infested hilly tracts to the paddy fields and caused

irreparable damage to the villagers fuelling conflict between the

largest animal on land and the most intelligent beast on earth (man).

The animal come during night and all crops, including the banana,

sugarcane, paddy are consumed.

 

Roy added that when there is information of elephants raiding crop

land, the forest staff, along with the villagers use crackers, search

light, torch light or create noisy environment to drive away the

elephant herds, but these techniques are very troublesome and poor

result-oriented. " We have told the villagers not to cultivate

sugarcane crop as the crop is the most favourite food for elephants,

but we cannot stop people from cultivating paddy as this (paddy) is

the chief crop of the locals, " said Roy.

 

The forest sources say that the removal of stray elephants (called

makhana) from paddy fields is a very very difficult task and gun

shots cannot be used to drive out a stray elephant as gun shot may

injure the animal and thus it may turn rogue, harming people.

 

Last year, one man was killed by an elephant in Nalapara forest beat

in Rani Forest Range in Kamrup East Forest Division and a

compensation of Rs 40,000 was given to the next of kin of the

diseased, sources said and added that another person was trampled to

death by an elephant in Borduar Reserve Forest in 2004 near Chanduvi

beel while the ill-fated victim was protecting his paddy crop at

night. Such incidents are triggering conflict between man and

elephant.

 

According to forest sources, the herds of elephants have been using

some important densely-forested reserve forests as their habitat for

some months in search of food. These reserve forests (RFs) are Rani,

Jarasal, Garbhangha under Kamrup East Forest Division and Mataikhar,

Borduar and Mayong under Kamrup West Forest Division and all located

in the hilly Assam-Meghalaya border areas. Sources said that the

available bamboo trees, grasses, leaves or the barks of particular

tress were not adequate for the elephants and hence they entered the

nearby cultivation at night or in the morning after resting the whole

day under the shadow of dense trees. However, sources added, the

elephant herds migrated to adjoining Meghalaya forest once their food

was over in the Assam territory in Kamrup.

 

It may be mentioned here that the elephants raiding the cultivation

are, at present, almost uncontrollable. The wildlife experts have

ruled out cultivation of mustard or chilli to prevent raiding of

crops as the hilly-forested elephant corridors are not suitable for

cultivation of chilli or mustard.

 

Roy believes that a solar or electric fencing might be pragmatic in

preventing the elephants from raiding crops. " Such fencing would

create electric shocks on elephants but won't hurt the animal. Hence

this method is the most suitable measure to safeguard the vast

cropland near the reserve forest from elephant's depredation, " he

added.

 

Roy further added that in Sukna areas of Siliguri district of West

Bengal, a huge electric fencing project was successfully launched. In

Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary near Mariani in Jorhat district, a solar

fencing has been successfully installed to prevent elephant from

entering human habitations, sources said.