Expert committee formed to study negative human-elephant interactions in
Gudalur (Coimbatore)
Rohan Premkumar, The Hindu
August 3, 2022
The committee’s priority would be to reach out to local stakeholders and
devise measures to minimize the chances of negative interactions
The state government has formed an expert committee to study negative
human-elephant interactions in Gudalur forest division and to come up with
“holistic, long-term solutions.”
The constitution of the committee comes after a recent increase in human
deaths attributed to elephant attacks in O-Valley in Gudalur. The committee
comprises of senior forest department officials, including the Conservator
of Forests and Field Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, D. Venkatesh, who
is the chairman of the committee, and Kommu Omkaram, the District Forest
Officer (Gudalur Division), another member and co-ordinator.
Its members are researchers and wildlife biologists. B. Ramakrishnan,
assistant professor in wildlife biology at the government arts college in
Udhagamandalam, D. Boominathan, the Worldwide Fund for Nature’s (WWF-India)
landscape co-ordinator for the Nilgiris, Tarsh Thekaekara, Managing Trustee
of the Shola Trust and Dr. K. Ramesh, Scientist from the Wildlife Institute
of India.
Mr. Venkatesh told The Hindu the committee has been speaking to local
residents, politicians and tea plantation owners to understand the key
drivers of negative human-elephant interactions in the division. “The first
priority would be to reach out to local stakeholders and understand what
measures can be undertaken to minimize the chances of negative
interactions,” he said. There had been demands by local communities for
physical barriers to be put up to stop elephants from straying into human
settlements.
“We will study the feasibility of such barriers, taking into account the
welfare of elephants first and foremost, and ensuring that the barriers do
not restrict elephant movement between different habitats,” said Mr.
Venkatesh.
According to Mr. Omkaram, solutions to the issue would require various
strategies, not restricted to physical barriers between humans and
elephants. The first step would be the committee studying the landscape,
understanding the problems and then coming up with solutions that can be
implemented to mitigate interactions between humans and elephants.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/expert-committee-formed-to-study-negative-human-elephant-interactions-in-gudalur/article65720369.ece
Expert committee formed to study negative human-elephant interactions in
Gudalur (Coimbatore)
Rohan Premkumar, The Hindu
August 3, 2022
The committee’s priority would be to reach out to local stakeholders and
devise measures to minimize the chances of negative interactions
The state government has formed an expert committee to study negative
human-elephant interactions in Gudalur forest division and to come up with
“holistic, long-term solutions.”
The constitution of the committee comes after a recent increase in human
deaths attributed to elephant attacks in O-Valley in Gudalur. The committee
comprises of senior forest department officials, including the Conservator
of Forests and Field Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, D. Venkatesh, who
is the chairman of the committee, and Kommu Omkaram, the District Forest
Officer (Gudalur Division), another member and co-ordinator.
Its members are researchers and wildlife biologists. B. Ramakrishnan,
assistant professor in wildlife biology at the government arts college in
Udhagamandalam, D. Boominathan, the Worldwide Fund for Nature’s (WWF-India)
landscape co-ordinator for the Nilgiris, Tarsh Thekaekara, Managing Trustee
of the Shola Trust and Dr. K. Ramesh, Scientist from the Wildlife Institute
of India.
Mr. Venkatesh told The Hindu the committee has been speaking to local
residents, politicians and tea plantation owners to understand the key
drivers of negative human-elephant interactions in the division. “The first
priority would be to reach out to local stakeholders and understand what
measures can be undertaken to minimize the chances of negative
interactions,” he said. There had been demands by local communities for
physical barriers to be put up to stop elephants from straying into human
settlements.
“We will study the feasibility of such barriers, taking into account the
welfare of elephants first and foremost, and ensuring that the barriers do
not restrict elephant movement between different habitats,” said Mr.
Venkatesh.
According to Mr. Omkaram, solutions to the issue would require various
strategies, not restricted to physical barriers between humans and
elephants. The first step would be the committee studying the landscape,
understanding the problems and then coming up with solutions that can be
implemented to mitigate interactions between humans and elephants.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/expert-committee-formed-to-study-negative-human-elephant-interactions-in-gudalur/article65720369.ece