ANIMAL WONDERS: Maharashtra forest department has brought in three trained male elephants from Karnataka
The Maharashtra forest department will soon have specialised recruits to manage the man-animal conflict in the state—three trained male elephants being brought in from Karnataka. This is the first initiative to induct trained elephants to undertake conflict management measures like tracking and capturing problem animals.
This includes an elephant 'Bhim,' who was captured in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg in 2015 and was tamed and domesticated in Karnataka. The elephants will be based at the Tadoba- Andhari tiger reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur, which has around 90 tigers; and along with the neighbouring Bramhapuri territorial forest division, accounts for around 130 tigers, or over half of Maharashtra's tiger population.
However, the central Indian landscape witnesses massive man-animal conflict with herbivores, leopards and tigers entering human habitations and farmsteads. Elephants can be used to monitor terrain which is difficult to patrol on foot and from vehicles. Large carnivores like tigers are also wary of attacking elephants due to their size. In September 2018, the forest department had brought in a team of elephants from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh to capture a problem tigress 'Avni,' who was blamed for 13 human deaths, in Yavatmal. However, the tigress was eventually shot dead by a private hunter hired by the state forest department in a controversial move.
"We plan to induct three elephants, including Bhim, from Karnataka's Dubare and Mathigodu elephant camps. The final approvals have come through from the Karnataka government and the union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF)," said Praveen NR, conservator of forests, TATR. "We will induct them in a month. The formalities are complete and the logistics are being worked out," he said.
The TATR already has three elephants, two of which are used for patrolling the area. "These three elephants will be used for conflict management. We cannot take our jeeps everywhere. We can move freely on elephants," said Praveen. Initially, the mahouts of the elephants will stay with them at the TATR till the time that they are acclimatised. "They will be based at Tadoba, but can be used anywhere in Maharashtra for conflict management," said Praveen.
The TATR has around 85 to 90 tigers, up from 60 to 65 in the 2014 nationwide tiger census, while Bramhapuri has about 40.
The elephant 'Bhim' was part of herd of wild elephants that rampaged in Sindhudurg district and was captured by the state forest department in a controversial move. He was domesticated at the Dubare elephant camp in the first such exercise in Maharashtra.
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