Date:25/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/25/stories/2008092560420300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

50 elephants chased into Tali forests

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Every year, around this time the Forest officials undertake their customary “elephant drive”. In a bid to avoid any human-animal conflict arising out of elephant herds in the “corridor” — they enter from adjoining reserve forests — the Forest Department staff got down to their annual routine by chasing the elephants into Tali Reserve Forests on Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border on Wednesday.

On the first day of this week-long drive, the forest officials said that nearly 50 elephants had been driven away. With a carrying capacity of 100 elephants, the 104 sq km Bannerghatta National Park cannot sustain this influx. As a result of this over-crowding, elephants tend to stray into nearby villages and destroy crops. Areas like Bannerghatta, Sakhalvara, Buthanahalli, Ragihalli, Mantapa, Kaleshwari, Muninagara, Tharalu, and Sithalvadi are generally affected. Previously, elephant herds have reached as far as Kengeri, Girinagar and Bangalore city limits.

Officials say that elephants from the adjoining Tali Reserve Forest in Tamil Nadu come here in search of greenery and water holes every winter. The drive started early in the morning and officials used crackers and other methods to scare them away.

The Bannerghatta national Park is part of a forest chain linking Thali reserve forests (Tamil Nadu), Bilikal reserve forests, Cauvery wildlife sanctuary, and so on.