There are about 53,000 Asian elephants in the world, of which, 30,000 are in India. Karnataka supports one of the last remaining viable habitats and populations of Asian Elephants in the world. There are about 6500 wild elephants in Karnataka.
Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, modification, human-elephant conflict and poaching for ivory are some of the conservation issues faced by wild elephant populations in Karnataka. Human activities such as road and railway networks, agriculture, tourist infrastructure etc. in elephant habitats and corridors has led to habitat loss, modification and fragmentation and the loss of habitat quality. This has in turn led to the reduction of food species in forests and has exposed wild elephants to cultivated crops. Not only does this result in severe conflict between farmers and elephants; due to crop damage, property damage, economic loss, loss of lives etc., cultivated crops are an inappropriate diet for elephants leading to serious health issues such as obesity and diabetes. Farmers bear animosity towards the elephants and retaliate violently, often leading to the death of elephants, mainly by electrocution.
On an average 2 people are killed and another 2 injured each year by wild elephants and 2 elephants are killed by retaliating farmers. Another worrying trend related to human-elephant conflict is that, farmers also support poaching since they feel that poachers eliminate the problem elephants. On an average, out of 14 male deaths every year, 6-7 are due to poaching.
Elephants play a significant ecological role and are integral to the survival of forest ecosystems. Elephants are also referred to as an “umbrella species”, since their conservation will ensure the survival of a large area of forests and a large number of other species. The conservation of elephants is in our hands.
On the eve of the World Animal Day and the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos, we need your help to petition the government to implement comprehensive strategies to combat these serious threats posed by human beings to the survival of elephants and elephant habitats.
We recommend:
- Elephant habitat quality status needs to be critically reviewed through workshops and plans for appropriate and disturbance free maintenance and monitoring of the same should be implemented.
- Human-Elephant Conflict
(1) Comprehensive study of human-elephant conflict and conflict prevention measures followed in Karnataka should be conducted.
(2) Proper site-specific conflict prevention strategies have to be put in place, for example, trenches can be provided only in low rainfall areas and may fail in areas where there is high rainfall.
(3) Periodic maintenance of elephant proof barriers should be done.
(4) Periodic interactions with local communities and awareness programmes have to be carried out.
(5) Fostering people friendly conflict prevention methods and removing administrative hurdles related to compensations.
- All human activities that severely affect elephants, but are not community depriving, should be banned, with minimum specific limits, in the elephant corridors to ensure uninterrupted movement of elephants
- Employ and enforce strict regulations for infrastructure projects including tourist facilities in and around elephant habitats.
- Ban on use, trade and display of ivory products should be imposed and stricter laws for enforcement should be in place.
