Chandrapur human-tiger conflict: Trained Karnataka elephants to join Maharashtra tiger trail in 3 months

Come November, Maharashtra will have a unit of six elephants to tackle the human-tiger conflict at Chandrapur.

Come November, Maharashtra will have a unit of six elephants to tackle the human-tiger conflict at Chandrapur.

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Three trained elephants from Karnataka will be brought to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) buffer area. These elephants will join the three other elephants at the reserve area to curb conflicts across wildlife habitats interspersed with villages. The decision was presented before the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) during its August 7 meeting.

Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), said, “All formalities to bring the three tuskers from Mathidogu and Dubare elephant camps in Karnataka have been completed. The three elephants already at the TATR buffer help in patrolling and are being trained for tracking tiger movement.”

Forest officials said Bhim, one of the three trained elephants from Karnataka to make their way to Maharashtra to tackle conflict, was originally from Sindhudurg district.

“The elephant, along with a herd of two other elephants, was captured in March 2015 after being involved in several instances of crop damage. The elephant was relocated to Dubare camp in Karnataka, where he was trained specifically in tracking tigers and patrolling forests. Bhim will now return back to Maharashtra as per the agreement with the Karnataka forest department,” said Kakodkar.

“We are already in the process of recruiting mahouts (elephant riders). However, forests in Maharashtra are dry and deciduous, and elephants need a lot of fodder. In summers, it becomes difficult to feed them. As they are also let out in the evening, there’s a possible damage to the bamboos in the Tadoba buffer,” said Kakodkar.

The forest patches of Chandrapur district, which are home to 175 of the 312 tigers, account for 56% of the estimated tiger numbers in the state, resulting in this landscape witnessing the maximum human-animal conflict in India. Of the 27 human deaths owing to tiger attacks in Maharashtra between January and August, 23 were from Chandrapur. So far, four tigers – including three from Chandrapur – involved in the conflict, have been captured.

Training elephants to address conflict was proposed over a decade ago. However, the proposal was stalled after a mahout was attacked and killed by a trained elephant at the TATR buffer last year. In another case, the same elephant killed a woman in Yavatmal district in October 2018 as well as a man in the adjoining Wardha district.

“We are exploring the possibility of recruiting experienced fodder cutters (assistants to mahouts) as mahouts since they are traditionally equipped to train the elephants better. Unfortunately, any class 4 recruitment for the forest department needs a Class 10 certificate. We requested the state to waive off this educational qualification requirement for the fodder cutters,” said Kakodkar.

SBWL members explained that elephants are used for collecting and transporting wood at Melghat and Gadchiroli district.

“A few years ago, elephants were brought from Gadchiroli for tourism purposes (safari) in spite of our opposition. However, using elephants to tackle conflict is welcome. Gadchiroli and Melghat elephants can be trained for tackling conflict. Also, tranquilising tigers using elephants and restricting the movement of the wild cats is a much easier and safer option,” said Kishor Rithe, member, SBWL.

In December 2018, the swift capture of slain tigress (T1) Avni’s female cub was carried out with the help of trained elephants from Madhya Pradesh. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) then suggested the Maharashtra government to train elephants similarly like MP.

“Bringing elephants to this particular landscape is extremely important, considering the present situation. It is always better to track tigers using elephants as they are versatile animals. It’s also one of the proven concepts of tackling conflict,” said SP Yadav, member secretary, NTCA.

Experts said more focus should be on an alert system where villagers can be informed in time if a tiger is lurking in the vicinity. “The Chandrapur landscape is pretty vast and Maharashtra is lagging behind in terms of tiger monitoring using elephants, which is regularly done across Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand since at least a decade now,” said Nitin Desai, director (central India), Wildlife Protection Society of India.

TIGERS IN CHANDRAPUR

Apart from the 82 tigers in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), The Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India 2018-19 study, identified 23 tigers in Central Chanda, 31 in forests, 39 in Brahmapuri, taking the tally in Chandrapur to 175 tigers. Combined with wildlife sanctuaries of Karandla (11 tigers) and Tipeswar (five tigers) and Bor (six), the tiger population in Vidarbha block was estimated at 219 (ranging from 185 to 252).

The Chandrapur area has become overpopulated, which is a worry, and there is a need for controlling the tiger population, said YV Jhala, lead author of the report that called for dispassionate, and professional removal of problem individual tigers, as per NTCA protocol.