The State government has informed the Kerala High Court that the Forest Department had initiated steps to mitigate the man-elephant conflicts, especially in Wayanad.
In an affidavit, K.J. Varghese, Principal Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, said that the Forest Department officials had studied various methods for mitigating the conflict and managing the issue.
A project to mitigate the man-elephant conflict in Wayanad by restoring the natural elephant corridors, especially the Periya-Kottiyoor Elephant Corridor Project, though acquisition of land is progressing in a positive direction.
Once it was in place, it will provide a lengthy corridor connecting the landscape of the Bandhipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves to the forests in the the district of Wayanad, Kozhikode, and Malappuram (Nilambur), which will be connected to the Muthumalai Tiger Reserve and other forest landscapes of Tamil Nadu.
The affidavit added that it was virtually impossible to relocate the captured elephants to other forest areas. In fact, the translocation of animals in the wild has to be determined on a case-to-case basis depending on facts, circumstances, and situation in each case and could have no universal application. The situation in Africa with vast expanses of grasslands, forest plains, and other areas with minimal presence of human settlement could not be compared with smaller forest areas in the undulating hilly terrain in the Western Ghats in Kerala and the human settlement which could be reached in a day or two from any forest areas in the State.
Captured elephant
The affidavit was filed in response to a writ petition relating to the rehabilitation of a male wild elephant captured from the Agali Forest Range and kept at the Kodanadu Elephant Rehabilitation in Ernakulam.
The affidavit said that the Nelliampathy area under the Ommala Forest Station of Angali Forest Range was another area where wild elephants were frequently found.
