Deputy Commissioner Venkataraja on Tuesday chaired a meeting to discuss man-animal conflict in Kodagu and the steps that are necessary to be taken up for addressing the issue.
This is the first such meeting on the issue. Representatives of NGOs and stakeholders attended.
Speaking on the topic, Col. C.P. Muthanna said the problem of human-wildlife conflict is a matter of serious concern in Kodagu and the conflict is mainly in the revenue lands that are under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner.
Therefore, the matter was brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner with a request to carry out meetings to coordinate the efforts of the Forest Department with other stakeholders and agencies in order to mitigate conflicts in the district.
The meeting was told that there are a large number of wild elephants in Kodagu that are outside the forest habitat and are almost permanently in coffee estates. They must be captured and translocated or tamed. In case of translocation, it must be done in a manner that the elephants do not return to continue to cause problems in the area outside the forest habitat, they suggested.
The department was requested to provide a detailed plan in this regard with an approximate timeline.
The Deputy Commissioner was requested to issue orders for clearing undergrowth in coffee plantations as neglected coffee plantations act as safe havens for wild elephants.
Elephant proof trenches can prevent wild jumbos from entering the sacred groves.
The participants at the meeting said the roles of elephant task force and rapid response teams need to be well defined with proper standard operating procedures.
The system of SMS alerts was being effectively used in Hassan district and it needs to be implemented in Kodagu too, the meeting suggested.
They said the Begur-Brahmagiri elephant corridor is an important corridor for elephants in the Kutta area of South Kodagu. The DC needs to call a meeting of the estate owners to initiate a dialogue for securing the corridor. A corridor in Somwarpet area connecting Yedava Nadu RF to Dodaharve RF and onwards to Nagarahole Natonal Park was also being examined, note on the discussions held with the DC said.
It was suggested in the meeting for reintroducing jackals in Kodagu to control the population of wild boars.
