Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

Man-animal conflict: Who is to blame?

By K. Satyamurty

Bangalore Dec. 21. Bangalore is perhaps the only major city in the region with wildlife right in its backyard. The Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) extends from the outskirts of the City to Tamil Nadu and is home to herds of elephants and other animals, including some carnivores.

The outskirts of the City have tracts of forests and have been on the migratory path of elephants going to the larger wildlife sanctuaries southwards. Some were their feeding grounds. Once a contiguous area of jungles, they have now become fragmented; some have become suburbs. The trouble starts here. On one occasion, an elephant herd camped for days on the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Right through the first two weeks of December, teams of villagers and Forest Department personnel have been trying to drive back about 60 elephants moving in three herds into the park. The elephant herds were spotted around villages such as Sakahlvara, Buthanahalli, Ragihalli, Mantapa, Kaleshwari, Muninagara, Tharalu, and Sithalvadi. Villagers reported that elephants had eaten up the harvested crops.

According to the Deputy Conservator of Forests, B.M.T. Rajeev, who is in charge of the park, "some elephant herds almost reached the City limits before being driven back. Elephants migrate during winter. The park is part of a forest chain linking the Thali forests in Tamil Nadu, the Bilikal Reserve Forests, the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, and others." Now, they reach the park to find that their habitat had become cultivated fields and human habitation.

While the Forest Department has been trying to block all the weak points in the park's boundary to prevent elephants from straying, the villagers themselves were said to be cutting the fences so that cattle could enter the forests and graze.

Villagers, who are upset about crops being destroyed by the elephants, try to scare them away by bursting crackers and making loud noise. Last year, elephant herds came into the suburbs of Kengeri and Girinagar and were driven back with difficulty.

Besides paying compensation for accidents, deaths, and crop loss caused by wild animals, the forest personnel have been trying to convince the upset villagers that elephants are not at fault if humans have taken over their migratory paths.

While the "elephantine problem" may take time to be resolved, there has been good news for wildlife enthusiasts. Animal right organisations led by People for Animals (PFA) claim to have drastically curbed ritual hunting during the many "jatras" that take place in villages within a 25 km. radius of Bangalore.

Animals such as the jackal, fox, hare, mongoose, porcupine, and bat, and wild birds are hunted down and either killed outright or carried back injured and bleeding. The animal rights organisations received unexpected backing from village women in their efforts to end such hunting prohibited by law. The women were fed up with drunken and rowdy behaviour of their men during and after the ritual hunts. The police and forest officers have also supported the campaign to end this practice.

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