The Forest Department has increased the number of staff engaged in night patrols in the wake of rise in frequency of wild elephants entering villages bordering forests in Coimbatore district.
According to the Department, villages falling under the four forest ranges — Coimbatore, Boluvampatty, Madukkarai and Periyanaickenpalayam— were witnessing more incidents of elephants entering human habitations.
District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj said that additional staff were being sent to Boundary Night Patrol Teams (BNPT), specialised units dedicated to minimise negative interactions between humans and elephants, to drive out crop-raiding elephants.
In addition, staff working in the remaining three forest ranges were also sent to these four ranges to minimise damages to crops and properties.
When a herd of elephants camped at Kuppanur village last week, staff from Boluvampatty and Madukkarai ranges jointly drove them back into the forest, Mr. Jayaraj said.
To tackle elephant movement in villages in the Periyanaickenpalayam range, staff from Mettupalayam and Karamadai were deputed.
The DFO said that the recent crop damages were caused by multiple herds that entered different villages more or less at the same time. Hence, it was difficult for the BNPTs to reach all the locations when elephants were engaged in crop raiding.
Additional staff for patrols on railway tracks
In the Madukkarai forest range, where railway tracks pass through reserve forests, the Department has increased foot patrolling staff from 19 to 27 in view of the migration of elephants, said Mr. Jayaraj.
The staff walk along the tracks, ‘A’ and ‘B’ lines that link Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to prevent wild elephants from getting hit by moving trains. Madukkarai Forest Range Officer P. Santhiya said these staff work in four different shifts.
Drones for tracking elephants
The Department is also using drones to track wild elephants that do not return to forest in the morning and camp in uncultivated areas in villages.
Drones were used to locate a herd of seven elephants that was camping at Kuppanur for nearly two days. The herd, comprising one calf and six adult and sub-adult elephants, was chased back to the forest on November 17 morning.
