‘Trained elephants used in Gadchiroli too’

MUMBAI: The state’s decision to get three trained elephants from Karnataka to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) buffer area and join three others along to curb conflict across wildlife habitats interspersed with villages is not unique, according to members of the State Board of Wildlife. SBWL members explained elephants were also present in Melghat and Gadchiroli district (used for collecting and transporting wood).

“A few years ago, elephants were brought from Gadchiroli for tourism purposes (safari) in spite of our opposition. However, using elephants to tackle conflict is welcome. Gadchiroli and Melghat elephants can be trained for tackling conflict. Also, tranquilising tigers using elephants, restricting movement of problem tigers is a much easier and safer option,” said Kishor Rithe, member, SBWL.

In December 2018, the swift capture of slain tigress (T1) Avni’s female cub was carried out with the help of trained elephants from Madhya Pradesh. Then, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had suggested the state to have trained elephants similar to MP. “Bringing elephants to this particular landscape is extremely important considering the present situation. It is always better to track tigers using elephants as they are versatile animals, and one of the proven concepts of tackling conflict,” said SP Yadav, member secretary, NTCA.

The decision on Chandrapur was presented before the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) during its August 7 meeting. “We are already in the process of recruiting mahouts (elephant riders),” said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) . “However forests in Maharashtra are dry and deciduous, and elephants need a lot of fodder. In summers it becomes an issue to feed them. Since they are also let out in the evening, possible damage to bamboo in Tadoba buffer is another problem.”

Training elephants to address conflict was proposed over a decade ago. However, the proposal was stalled after a mahout was attacked and killed by a trained elephant at TATR buffer last year, and in another case from October 2018 the same elephant attacked and killed a woman in Yavatmal district and attacked a man in adjoining Wardha district. “We are exploring the possibility of recruiting fodder cutters (assistants to mahouts) as mahouts since they are equipped to train them better to avoid such cases,” said Kakodkar.

“The Chandrapur landscape is pretty vast and Maharashtra is lagging behind in terms of tiger monitoring using elephants,” said Nitin Desai, director (central India), Wildlife Protection Society of India.