News Karnataka
Friday, March 29 2024
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Kodagu

Radio collar introduced for rogue wild elephants in Kodagu, Hassan

Radio Collaring Introduced For Rogue Wild Elephants To Reduced Menace H
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Madikeri: Wild elephant menace is a common feature in most of the rural areas situated besides forest. These elephants raid agricultural lands during the night, and destroying crops, thus causing severe losses to farmers.

Despite Forest Department digging up elephant proof trenchs at the forest borders, the elephants managed to cross them and enter human habitats. Followed by pressure from villagers, the department translocated wild elephants many times. But shifting is not the permanent solution for this menace. Day by day the forest is shrinking and also the elephant population is on the rise, which is causing shortage of fodder in forests.

The Forest Department came up with a novel project to attach radio collars to rogue wild elephants to monitor their movements. This method has been successful in Kodagu and Hassan districts as far as reducing elephant menace is concerned. The Forest Department has taken up this project in association with Dehradun Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Germany.

In 2018, GIZ started a project with MoEF and three partner states – Uttarakhand, Karnataka and West Bengal, under which it identified animals as ‘conflict’ species and decides to come up with guidelines to control these negative interactions between human and different animals.

Speaking to News Karnataka, WII expert Dr. Sanath Muliya told that so far 13 elephants were radio collared in Kodagu and Hassan districts. He said that radio collars work for three years and provides location of elephants 24×7. So, the department and villagers can chase away rogue elephants and also villagers could get pre-intimation of their arrival. He said that a greater number of rogue elephants will be radio collared in other parts of State too.

Annira Harish Madappa, a farmer in Srimangala on the border of Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary told that after getting information through radio collar, the Forest Department provides intimation about location of rogue elephants through what’sApp group. Even The department officials bursts crackers and chase away elephants into the forest, which has helped to save our crops, he added.

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