A meeting of the elephant range States of southern India to granulate the components of the regional action plan for comprehensive understanding and management of human elephant conflict was held in Coimbatore on September 05 and 06, 2024.
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Besides discussing the action plan for mitigation of human elephant conflict in southern States, the meeting organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), also had a capacity-building workshop for the elephant custodians and handlers on enhancing elephant welfare in captivity.
Jitendra Kumar, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary of MoEF&CC, presided over the two-day meeting, which was attended by Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, Additional Director General of Forests (Project Tiger & Elephants) and Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority; Dheeraj Mittal, Additional Inspector General of Forests (Project Tiger & Elephant) MoEF&CC; Sudhanshu Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Tamil Nadu; and Chief Wildlife Wardens from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.
Chief conservators of forests, field directors, district forest officers, assistant conservators of forests, forest veterinarians, forest range officers and retired officials from Forest Department of four southern States took part in the meeting.
Forest veterinarians, scientists, subject specialists in elephant management from all over India interacted with the temple authorities, private elephant owners, mahouts and enlightened their knowledge on captive elephant welfare. Field staff, who contributed to the effective conservation of elephants, were honoured with mementos and field kits.