Expressing concern over the frequent human-wild animal conflicts in villages located near forest boundaries in Talavadi Hills, Erode district and the inadequate action taken so far by the government to resolve the issue, residents of a few villages have threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and have hoisted black flags atop their houses.
There are over 20 villages located along the boundary of forest ranges in Talavadi and Jerahalli, falling under the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in the hills. There have been multiple instances of wild elephants entering habitations and damaging standing crops and also of killing farmers guarding their crops, in addition to leopards and tigers attacking both humans and cattle.
Farmers claim that conflicts have increased over the past few years, particularly during summer, as wild animals enter villages in search of food. Though compensation is given to the victim’s family after each incident, people here say they live in constant fear and want a permanent solution to solve this problem.
