a jumbo task at hand

Only four days ago, four elephants from a herd of 18 living in the forest near Katragadda village in Bhamini mandal of Parvathipuram-Manyam district were electrocuted while walking in search of food and water.

Meanwhile, six days ago, two human lives were trampled to death by wild elephants in two separate incidents, drawing attention to the seriousness of this human-wildlife conflict.

The pachyderm problem in the state started in the late 1970s, after a gap of two centuries, the reappearance of Asian elephants at the tri-state junction of Kuppam in Chittoor district came as a big surprise to the locals and the forest department. ,

Season after season, the number of migrant jumbos coming from the Western Ghats spread across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu kept on increasing.

A small herd of elephants from Kuppam division entered the Seshachalam Biosphere in the mid-1980s, never to return.

For those pachyderms that inhabit the forests between Bangarupalem and Kuppam mandals in Chittoor district, the Andhra Pradesh government created a sanctuary, the Koundinya Elephant Project, in 1990.

causing human-wildlife conflict

At present, the combined population of wild elephants, both residents and migrants, in Kaundinya Sanctuary and the Seshachalam ranges of Annamayya and Tirupati districts is estimated to be around 200.

While the issue of human-wildlife conflict is minimal or nil in the Seshachalam ranges, it has become a cause of concern in the Kaundinya belt in the past decade, with over twenty wild elephants losing their lives due to electrocution. The jumbo attacks have resulted in more than two dozen human casualties.

migrants from western ghats

Senior forest officials believe that jumbo population pressure in the Western Ghats is causing them to migrate to Kuppam, crossing the forests of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Many herds have also started moving towards agricultural areas. Many unlucky elephants got electrocuted after getting tangled in the electric wires which were hanging down in the fields and the power transformers were at the ground level.

Worst of all, there are incidents of jumbo being killed after being entangled in electric traps set by hunters to hunt wild boar or antelope.

pachyderm electrocution

The tragic deaths were confined to Kuppam division till the year 2000. But, in the last decade, Tamil Nadu’s wild elephants have started expanding their forays into the poorly forested areas of Punganur, Ramasamudram, Madanapalle, Sadum, and Puthalapattu. and sparse forests adjacent to urban plains.

In the early months of 2021, a three-member swarm from Tamil Nadu entered Chittoor Municipal Corporation limits and kept moving east. En route the devastated area is the “bachelor group” (in the forest language) who traveled over 120 km to reach Nagari and Pichtur, located along two national highways towards Chennai.

Efforts by the Forest Department to drive them back or to divert them to the nearby Tirumala Hills had failed. After three months, an elephant got electrocuted near Kailasa Kona Falls, 20 km from Puttur. Later, the remaining pair retreated into the jungles of Tamil Nadu. The farmers regretted that they had repeatedly warned the forest and electricity department staff about low-lying electric wires and ground-level transformers but in vain.

In October 2019, two huge wild elephants from Tamil Nadu strayed into Irala near Chittoor. While raiding the crops, they were electrocuted in a mango orchard, believed to be trapped in a trap set for wild boars. The owners of the farm had deployed an earthmover and secretly buried the giant jumbos. After a fortnight, the secret of the secretive but careless burial came to light when a pungent odor from the decomposed body attracted some stray dogs.

wrath of mother elephant

In July 2019, a baby elephant was electrocuted under an electric pole in Gobillakotur village near Palamaner. The next day night, his mother was back on the scene to avenge her child’s death. The field staff of the Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) had disconnected the power supply, prompting an angry mother-jumbo to uproot the lifeless pole as expected by the forest officials.

Agricultural wells at ground level also prove fatal to wild elephants. In recent years, two elephant calves were rescued from waterholes, and one of them died while under veterinary care.

At Chinnagottagallu in present-day Tirupati district, a heavily built female jumbo died in July 2011 after falling into a 70-feet deep well. After lifting the body, the sight of a fully developed fetus in her womb during the postmortem brought tears. Eyes of forest officials and veterinary staff.

remedial measures

APSPDCL has now decided to go Green to prevent jumbo electrocutions. APSPDCL executive engineer (Chittoor rural division) B Hari says that in the last two years, more than 140 electric poles in the fields adjacent to the Kaundinya sanctuary have grown more than 10 meters in height. “We have a proposal to place the transformers at higher heights attached to poles instead of at ground level,” says the official.

Mr. Hari says, “Another important decision is to paint all the poles and transformers green. Soon it will be started in collaboration with the Forest Department. Forest officials told us that elephants get angry when they see things that are white and black.”

Forest range officer (Palamner) Naeem Ali says that steps have been taken to increase the height of electric poles and transformers in all forest border villages of Kaundinya zone.

“Farmers are informed about the underground laying of third phase cables. Importantly, electricity along high-tension lines will be stopped in the way of wild herds whenever their movement is detected. Those who arrange electric nets in forests and fields will be booked against them,” he says.

Jumbos in Parvathipuram

Elephants are facing problems not only in Chittoor range but also in Parvathipuram-Manyam district.

Human-wildlife conflict has become the order of the day in Parvathipuram district due to inordinate delay in creating elephant zones and implementing other measures required for the protection of wildlife.

In the absence of elephant corridors and specific measures to take care of tuskers, elephants are moving into settlements in several areas like Gummalakshmipuram, Kurupam, Giammavalasa and Palakonda and other constituencies.

The local people are also facing many hurdles from the attacks of wild animals causing damage to their sugarcane, paddy and other crops.

looking for food and water

Recently, four of a herd of 18 elephants were electrocuted while going in search of food and water near Katragadda village in Bhamini mandal.

Each animal requires about 150 kg of food and 98 liters of water per day. In search of water and food, they are roaming and facing dangers like getting electrocuted by accidentally touching a transformer.

In fact, the elephant keepers should take necessary steps to protect the elephants from any danger. In many cases, the trackers are not accompanying the elephants due to delay in payment of wages.

The government, which pays around ₹8,000 per tracker, recently paid their dues.

The villagers are also unhappy over the delay in payment of compensation for crops damaged by elephants due to lack of coordination between forest and revenue officials in assessing the damage.

need a solid plan

KV Ramanamurthy, chief executive officer of Green Mercy, a voluntary organization working on animal protection, has urged the government to prepare a concrete proposal to permanently resolve the elephant issue.

“The government should study the various schemes being implemented effectively in countries like Thailand. In Thailand, microchip implants are placed under the thick skin of elephants for their effective tracking. Water turfs can also be made in forest areas so that elephants do not enter settlements frequently,” said Dr. Ramamurthy, who has done detailed studies on elephants in Srikakulam-Parvathipuram districts.

Parvathipuram forest officer GAP Prasuna says the department will send a proposal to the state government to create an elephant zone in collaboration with neighboring Odisha and the central government.

According to him, the department recently planned to set up a cordon on 500 hectares of land near Attam and Chandalangi villages in Parvathipuram-Manyam district. It was proposed with an estimate of ₹40 crore to provide water and food to the elephants in the protected area.

elephant field looted

In view of the recent electrocution of four elephants, a special elephant zone proposal was considered as the population of elephants is likely to increase in the near future.

Presently such zones are in Thirunelli-Kudrakote in Kerala, Edayarahalli-Doddasampige in Karnataka, Kaniyanapura-Moyar corridor in Karnataka, Siju-Rewak in Meghalaya, Chilla-Motichur in Uttarakhand and other places.

“Elephant fields are spread over larger areas than enclosures. Therefore, we are planning to take the cooperation of wildlife experts and organizations for the implementation of the proposal. The support of the central government is also needed for the protection of animals.