Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Forest officials of three tiger reserves – Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Sanjay – are going to meet in Bandhavgarh’s Tala range on Thursday to discuss the strategies to contain the threat posed by wild elephants. The officers will discuss the steps needed to be taken to manage elephant movement and protect villagers from the elephants’ fury.
Some time ago, selected officers from Bandhavgarh, Sanjay Tiger Reserve and other reserves had visited Annamalai (Tamil Nadu) and three to four places of Karnataka to learn the modern ways to control the threat posed by elephants to humans and crops. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve’s field director Anupam Sahay said that during the meeting, a holistic demand will be made under different heads to control the elephant-human conflict.
The energy department will be asked to ensure patrolling near electricity lines. Some other measures will also be contemplated in the meeting. Sources said it was during their visit to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that Madhya Pradesh forest officers learnt the modern methods to check the elephant menace.
They saw that AI-based technology is being used in the two states to check the movement of elephants towards the railway tracks. They also learned that in order to keep elephants away from fields, such plants should be planted on edges which elephants do not like. Notably, ten elephants have died in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in October month after feeding on infected Kudo millet crop.
Angry over the deaths of their beloved ones, one surviving elephant trampled two villagers to death. Thereafter, the state government sent selected forest officers to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to learn the ways to control the elephant movement and avoid elephant-human conflict.
Tiger translocated to Satpura
A tiger was translocated to Satpura Tiger Reserve from Bandhavgarh on Monday. The big cat has been kept under observation of the wildlife doctors and will shortly be released into the wild.
