News Highlights
The Forest Department in Odisha is experimenting with a siren system, which would go off automatically sensing elephant herds crossing the National Highway to reduce human elephant encount
Focus Points
- The system has been installed at two places at Ratasingha and Haldihabahal in Odisha
- Similarly, Khadi Village Industries Commission is implementing apiculture programme to keep elephants at bay in neighboring Angul district.
- About 100 bee boxes have been set up at border of Laxmipur village in Angul district.
Siren System
- Purpose
- Siren system is to alert traffic about elephant movement to reduce human-elephant encounters.
- How does it work?
- The siren system detects elephant herds approaching National Highway by its infrared sensor system.
- There is an in-built programme to identify jumbos from their sizes and other attributes.
- Once detected, the siren would go off alerting traffic from both sides.
Human-Wildlife Conflict
- Human-wildlife conflict occurs when human-wildlife interactions result in negative outcomes such as loss of property, livelihood, or even life.
- As human populations and demand for space continue to grow, people and wildlife are increasingly interacting and competing for resources, which can lead to increased human-wildlife conflict.
Reason for Human Elephant Conflict
- Illegal poaching for the ivory trade complicates calculations for elephant losses
- Shrinking Habitats
- The expansion of the human population into or near areas inhabited by wildlife is leading to the loss of natural habitat.
- The fragmentation has been bringing wild animals like elephants closer to human habitations, sparking these conflicts.
- Loss of Crops:
- The crop damages at households and sites located along high-risk conflict-prone edges and transitional areas lead to rivalry among settlers and wild animals
- India’s Protected (forest) Areas cover 1,61,222 sq km, less than 5% of the country’s area. And yet, many see attempts to make these stretches no-go zones as an impediment to growth.
- Competition for shared natural resources between people and wildlife
- Human population growth and the transformation of land use results in shrinking forest cover, poaching, rapid and unplanned urbanization
- Agricultural expansion and cultivation up to forest boundaries.
Mitigations for reducing human elephant conflict
- Repellent Methods
- Infusing chilli pepper on clothes and hanging them on the fences
- Establishing bee colonies at the borders to keep elephants away from the local communities.
- Deterrent Methods
- Trip alarm rings when elephants cross the trip and gives sufficient warning to the community
- Chilli as a repellent can be used in the form of chili smoke, chili rope and chili bricks.
- Removal of Elephants from Human Habitation/Area
- Alternate cropping with non-edible crops crops like chilli, citrus, ginger, onion not consumed by elephants could be grown in forest fringes as well as areas near settlements in forest fringes may deter elephants from reaching and raiding the crop fields.
- Erection of fences or other barriers:
- Building barriers around cattle bomas (livestock enclosure), creating distinct wildlife corridors, and erecting beehive fences around farms to deter elephants have all demonstrated the ability to be successful and cost-effective strategies for mitigating human-wildlife conflict.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source – The Hindu