Killing of a person in Kerala by a wild elephant has resulted in unleashing of joint efforts by forest officials of three states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka – to prepare a road map to avoid recurrence of such tragic incidents. It comes in the wake of public unrest and demands that the elephant be tranquilized to be domesticated, or simply killed.
The radio-collared jumbo named Belur Makhana crossed over from Karnataka into Kerala and killed a 42-year-old taxi driver Ajeesh at Mananthavady in Wayanad district on February 10. It returned to Karnataka earlier this week but the tragedy triggered a debate on the lack of coordination between forest officials of three states, resulting in the unleashing of a blame game between them.
Indian Masterminds spoke to the Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to understand the reasons for the animal spillage, and whether lack of co-ordination on such a sensitive issue was hampering their operations.
THE BELUR MAKHANA
The rogue elephant had made Karnataka forests its home and was released in the core area of Bandipur Tiger Reserve after being radio-collared in November 2023. But, it crossed over to Kerala in February where the tragic incident took place in Wayanad only to return to Karnataka few days back.
Karnataka has capability to intercept signals from elephant’s radio collar but Kerala and Tamil Nadu do not have the technology to track the radio-collared elephant. Its signals were being received at an interval of two hours. Kerala and Tamil Nadu depend on the inputs from Karnataka on elephant’s location. But, lack of coordination meant a delay of few hours or sometimes even half a day during which the pachyderm would have traversed few kilometres in the dense western ghat forests. This renders its tracking almost impossible.
COORDINATION COMMITTEE FORMED
A series of meetings between Additional Chief Secretary, DFO and Range Officers of three states resulted in formation of a co-ordination committee in which each of the three states will appoint a nodal officer to deal with such situations. PCCF of Project Tiger in Kerala has been appointed nodal officer in the coordination committee.
Speaking to Indian Masterminds Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka Mr. Subash Malkhede said, “If the animal was moving to a private land, the frequency for the signals could have been adjusted to half an hour. Technology needs regular monitoring and is not full-proof. Our focus is on intelligence and data sharing and exchange of technology. We have to implement best practises and utilize each other strengths.”
FAKE INFORMATION
Panic spread after Kerala government roped in sharpshooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan to shoot dead the makhana. Forest officials termed this as fake news. They say that killing an animal is the last resort.
It has been decided to contain the animal in Karnataka. Presently, he is in Nagarhole forest. “We are regularly monitoring it and next action will be taken accordingly”, added Mr Malkhede. In such cases, either we trap the animal and release it in a different area or bring it out to a camp. Killing it is not on the plate now.
Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu Srinivas R. Reddy says, “We have to investigate the situation in which the killing happened. The order to kill can’t be issued immediately. We have to look at every aspect. We haven’t issued such an order for elephants in our state during the past few years”.
FRAGMENTATION IS THE CAUSE
The three states have prime tiger reserves in the country – Bandipur, Nagarhole and BRT in Karnataka, Satymanagala and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala with around 1100 tigers. Karnataka alone has 6,395 elephants.
While these are contiguous landscapes but in the past few decades, due to the fragmentation of habitat, the continuity is broken. Elephant is a ranging animal and likes to migrate. Due to fragmentation and species behavioural pattern, these animals are exposed to increased contact with human settlements, roads, railway lines and such infrastructure resulting into the conflict.
CO-EXISTENCE NEEDED
“No wild animal seeks revenge. They don’t go after any human with an intention to kill. It happens only if they are provoked. We have to have little empathy for them. If they are crossing from one forest to another, let them. There has to be a degree of co-existence in the mind first,” says Mr D Jayaprasad, Chief Wildlife Warden of Kerala.
He also emphasized that if people are aware and regulate their movements especially in the night or early morning, deaths can be avoided. Also, the technology to monitor the movements, SMS alert mechanism needs to be improved. “We are also incorporating AI for better tracking of animals and installing infrared cameras. The technologies also have limitations. One thing that can make a difference is awareness of public,” he said.
