With the annual migration season of elephants nearing its peak in the Valparai plateau, the Forest Department, non governmental organisations like the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and residents of the hill station are all prepared to ensure free movement of the pachyderms.
At present, nearly 100 elephants are moving along plantation areas in the plateau, which include tea, coffee and cardamom estates, swamps, abandoned fields, eucalyptus patches and forest fragments inside estates. The number is expected to increase when the migration peaks between January and February.
Accustomed to the annual migration of elephants from the Kerala side, residents of the plateau and estate workers have learnt the way to avoid negative interactions between the large herbivores.
