Elephant census begins on May 17 in Kerala

E.M. Manoj, Kalpetta
The Hindu, May 12, 2017

An elephant census will be held in southern India from May 17 to May 19.
It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 elephants in the Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi, and Periyar elephant reserves of the State. The last census in 2012 had put the number of elephants at 6,177.
P.S. Easa, wildlife expert and coordinator of the programme, told The Hindu that along with Kerala, the census would be held in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “Elephants are migratory animals and cross over to the adjoining States, which may lead to overestimation or underestimation. Hence, the count will be conducted simultaneously with the three States,” Dr. Easa said.
A twelve-member core committee has been constituted for the programme. Amit Mallick, field director, Periyar Tiger Reserve, is the nodal officer and chairman of the team.
The census, involving direct and indirect count, will cover elephant habitats spread around 9,670 sq km of the 11,119.3 sq km forest area of the State. The direct counting method is based on sightings of elephants, while in the indirect method, surveyors follow a dung decay formula for arriving at an estimate.
As many as 641 select blocks, a block may be of six to seven sq km, have been identified in the State and a three-member team, including a watcher and two beat forest officers, will be engaged in each block.
As many as 120 resources persons have been trained for the census and they will train close to 2,000 field staff.
The direct count will begin on May 17 and the indirect count on May 18.
The third day will be exclusively for collecting information on population structure of the jumbos and will be in open areas where the pachyderms are frequently sighted.
The Periyar Tiger Conservation foundation will coordinate the census.

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For elephants, danger lurks in abandoned pits

K. S. Sudhi
KOCHI,  
The Hindu, October 27, 2014 

Abandoned elephant capture pits numbering 60, which could still trap pachyderms and other wild animals, have been located in three forest ranges of Ernakulam district.

Most number of pits, around 40, has been identified in Kuttampuzha Forest range and the rest are in Edamalayar and Thundathil ranges. Nearly 30 pits pose immediate threat to the animals. The depth of the remaining others have been reduced over the years, and are less risky to animals, according to an assessment. Each pit would have an average depth of three metres and circumference of six metres.

The counting was carried out on Sunday by a team of forest officials led by K. Vijayanand, Divisional Forest Officer, Malayattoor, following an accident involving two elephants on Friday. A mother and a calf elephant were trapped in a pit in Kuttampuzha Range that day. Though the mother elephant managed to get out, the trapped calf required the assistance from the Forest officials.

Though the Kerala government had officially called off the practice of capturing elephants using pits some three decades ago, large number of pits remains unfilled in the forest trapping unsuspecting wild animals. Besides elephants, gaur, deer and even snakes get entrapped. At least four or five instances of elephants slipping into the pits had been reported annually from the region, pointed out wildlife experts from the district.

According to the animal rescue plan of the department, sides of the pits will be levelled to create an escape route for animals. This will also reduce the depth of the pit and minimise the gravity of the fall. The process will be completed before November, said Mr. Vijayanand.

Incidentally, the Kerala Forest Department had abandoned the animal rescue programme after levelling some pits in the region some two decades ago.

T.M. Manoharan, former Chief of Forest Force, said that the department had levelled some pits in the region during the early nineties. Sides of the pits were levelled and converted into ramps to provide safe passage to animals. Earth was moved into the pit to reduce its depth too, he said.

P.S. Easa, a member of the National Board for Wildlife, said that there could be more pits in Ranni and Konni areas too, which also needs to be levelled. The State Forest department could approach the Project Elephant authorities seeking assistance for protecting the animals and levelling the pits, he said.

 

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Translocation seldom settles human-leopard conflicts

K.S. Sudhi, KOCHI, April 23, 2014

Picture courtesy: Wikimedia Commons,

The animal might cause problems elsewhere or die in the wild

: Translocating leopards that stray into human habitations cannot permanently solve the human-leopard conflicts, pointed out wildlife researchers.

Referring to the recent incidents of sighting of leopards at Vazhachal forest division, researchers said the translocation could turn the animals more problematic and eventually it might cause problems elsewhere or die in the wild.

Wildlife scientists of the Kerala Forest Research Institute who had studied the incidents of human-leopard conflict in the central Kerala region had earlier listed 16 incidents of cattle-lifting between April 2009 and March 2012.

Most incidents were reported in Palapilly, Pariyaram and Pattikkad forest ranges.

Leopard is a nocturnal feeder, which preferred domestic dogs and cattle when they visited villages. Most incidents occurred in the immediate forest fringes of as close as 50 metres to the forest.

During the study, conducted by E.A Jaison and Suresh K. Govind of the Wildlife Division of the Institute, 13 sightings of leopard were recorded from Palapilly, Sholayar, Pariyaram, Pattikkad and Vellikulangara forest ranges. Two female leopards, aged below four years, were caged from at Malakkapara (Sholayar Forest Range) and translocated.

Leopards don’t go after human beings and prey on them. However, close encounter with the animal can be dangerous. Animals which feel threatened could turn extremely risky. People should exercise caution during the morning and evening hours when they become very active, he said.

The study indicated that the “reduction of natural prey within the forest limits, fragmentation of habitat and alteration of countryside” created a suitable habitat for leopards in the fringe areas. Researchers indicated that “all the areas of leopard attack on humans had an ideal habitat for them. In the first incident at Athirapilly Forest Range, central Kerala, good habitat near the area of attack, dogs in the human habitation, cattle rearing, free grazing of cattle and the water availability amplified the human-leopard conflict.” it said.

Defending their territory

P.S. Easa, Head of the Wildlife Division of the Institute, said leopards, being fierce defenders of their territory, may find it tough to settle down when translocated to other regions. The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest earlier had prohibited the translocation of problematic leopards and it suggested that the animals should be kept in captivity, he said.

The disturbances in the fringe areas of the forest may force them to look for new pastures. The problematic animals should be radio-collared while translocating them so that their movements could be tracked. Though some proposals were forwarded to the State authorities for procuring them, nothing much has progressed, he said.

Translocating the problematic ones without monitoring its movements would amount to shifting the problem to some other place than managing it, he said.

Dr. Jaison said prominent male and young leopards would fight the weaker ones, forcing them to the fringe areas of forests.

Weaker ones would be forced to look for unoccupied territory or move to fringe areas. Prominent males might even kill the weaker ones. Such situations could occur when the leopards were translocated to new territories, he said.

The Hindu, April 23, 2014

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