A Central government delegation headed by the national coordinator of Elephant Cell will take stock of human-elephant conflict in Uttarakhand on a four-day visit to the state from Thursday.
Prajna P Panda, national coordinator of Elephant Cell and Muthamizh Selvan, scientist D for Project Elephant will be visiting the state.
A letter to the chief wildlife warden from the Union environment ministry in this regard mentioned that the officials will visit “Uttarakhand for matters related to Elephant Reserves in the state and take into account the areas of Uttarakhand affected with human-elephant conflict.”
Along with the population of elephants, the man-elephant conflict has also increased in the state. In June this year, according to the elephant census that was conducted earlier this year, the jumbo population in the state had reached 2,026. In 2012, there were 1,559 elephants while in 2017 there were 1,839 elephants in the state.
JS Suhag, chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand forest division said that five people have died and two have been injured in elephant attacks this year till September.
“Human-elephant conflict is on the rise in the state. To study the movement of elephants and tackle conflict, the state forest department has also started radio-collaring elephants in the state, primarily Rajaji Tiger Reserve landscape. As per the records of the state forest department, five people have died due to elephant attacks this year, while 22 elephants have died due to different reasons in the state,” said Suhag.
{{/usCountry}}“Human-elephant conflict is on the rise in the state. To study the movement of elephants and tackle conflict, the state forest department has also started radio-collaring elephants in the state, primarily Rajaji Tiger Reserve landscape. As per the records of the state forest department, five people have died due to elephant attacks this year, while 22 elephants have died due to different reasons in the state,” said Suhag.
{{/usCountry}}On October 15, a 35-year-old male elephant was successfully radio-collared in Haridwar forest division to monitor its movements ahead of Mahakumbh 2021. In October, the Centre permitted the Uttarakhand government to radio-collar 10 elephants and study their movement. These elephants usually stray into human habitation areas.