Elephantine problem: governments in the Western Ghats are advised to stay creative as conflicts between wildlife and habitat fragmentation increase

Although conflicts between wildlife are not new, the governments of the three major Western Ghat states—Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu—need to find creative ways to lessen them.

The management of human-animal conflict has once again come to light with the Karnataka government’s decision to award an ex-gratia to Ajeesh Joseph Panachiyil, a tribal from Wayanad who was murdered by an elephant assault.

Animals transcend political boundaries, yet the three nations that share borders are facing challenges with management and coordination due to the animals’ movements, particularly those that are radio-collared. The struggle between humans and animals is most noticeable in the Western Ghats, an area with the largest concentration of wildlife and notable national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

In a recently released tiger estimation report titled Status of Tigers, Co-Predators and Prey in India-2022-Final Report, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) stated that the Western Ghats, which span 140,000 sqkm and pass through Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, are among the world’s most populated biodiversity hotspots and are under constant threat from human-induced activities.

The ministry’s views, according to experts, are spot on. Man-animal confrontations are only becoming worse every year, despite scientific research, the use of technology, and directives from the three states’ highest courts. The administration of national parks and sanctuaries, regulating changes in land usage, and voluntary tribal relocation have not yielded significant results for the governments. The increase of businesses operating under the guise of tourism—including eco-tourism—exacerbates the issue.

The three states—Karnataka’s Bandipur, Nagarhole, and BRT, Tamil Nadu’s Satymanagala and Mudumalai, and Kerala’s Wayanad—have the nation’s top tiger reserves. 1,087 tigers are found in the Western Ghats area, according to the 2022 tiger census report.

The state of Karnataka is home to 6,395 elephants, according to a study produced by the government in August 2023 titled Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) Population, Size and Structure Estimates for Karnataka.

“When landscape continuity is disrupted and woods shrink into smaller pieces, resulting in honeycombing, habitat fragmentation develops. This directly influences ecological and behavioral aspects such foraging movements, dispersion, migrations, and the ability of species to colonize new areas, making it a primary source of conflicts between humans and animals. Additionally, more of the woods become exposed to greater interaction with roads, railroads, and other infrastructure as a result of fragmentation. Human-wildlife conflict is rising as a result of this increasing exposure, which is also occurring in the landscapes of three states: Nagarahole, Wayanad, Bandipur, Mudumalai, and BRT. Praveen Bhargav, a former member of the National Board for Wildlife and Trustee of Wildlife First, said that immediate action must be made under the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) manner to implement targeted land purchases and voluntary relocation to lessen fragmentation.

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Human-wildlife conflict: A union minister meets the relatives of those attacked by wild animals while in Wayanad
Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) BK Singh said that conflict is not new and that’s why it has grown over time. Elephants are not the only creatures that exhibit it; tigers, leopards, gaurs, sloth bears, and other animals also exhibit it.

There isn’t just one right response, according to Dr. Nishant Srinivasaiah, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Raman Sukumar’s Lab at IISc.

It is contingent upon the specific ecological and human factors of the area. As the seasons shift from the post-monsoon to the current summer, it is normal for animals to wander more in search of water and food. This mobility increases the likelihood of accidental contacts and collisions with humans and structures. Because there are more and more built-up places, it is becoming harder for animals to go across these growing human regions. The other is the wildlife’s adaptive adaptations to coexisting with humans mostly in secondary habitats, which may show up as expanded range ranges or locations where they have never before been.

During a recent visit to Bandipur and Wayanad, Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav expressed serious concerns over human-animal conflict near these two reserves’ boundaries. He said that chief wildlife wardens have the authority to order the capture or killing of an animal in order to resolve disputes under Section 11 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

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Human-drawn borders won’t end disputes between humans and animals; cooperation is needed: Kerala High Court
Afterwards, the government of Kerala said that sharpshooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan would be sent in to kill the makhana who had slain Ajeesh. After being radio collared, the makhana was released into the Bandipur Tiger Reserve’s core forest on November 20, 2023, after being apprehended by Karnataka forest department personnel in Belur, Hassan district.

Although Karnataka is proud to have the most elephants living there, Eshwar Khandre, the state’s minister of forests, said that the state also struggles with strife. Another significant factor contributing to conflict is the lantana infestation, which covers over 50% of the forest and causes habitat loss.

Over the years, courts in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka have ordered frequent tripartite meetings between the states after hearing several dispute cases. Similar arguments had also been made by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal. Meetings between the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) and PCCF began as a result of these findings. It was announced that the PCCF level shall have meetings once a year and the DCF level once every six months.

Following Yadav’s visit and Ajeesh’s passing, a virtual conference was convened on February 23 by the chief secretaries of the remaining three states, PCCFs, DGPs, and DCFs.

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The “animal-human conflict” should be resolved by reducing human activity.
An official from Karnataka acknowledged that the meetings don’t really have much of an effect as the state governments identify other important concerns that prevent the decisions from being executed.

“Time and resources are wasted on meetings alone. Since the three states all have the same Wildlife Act, managing this landscape—which is home to the largest meta-population of Asiatic elephants and tigers—needs to be done using a scientific management strategy. Independent ecologists and conservationists with in-depth understanding of these ecosystems, as well as those who are aware of how they recovered in the past and the failures of certain initiatives, must peer-review this strategy, according to Bhargav.

“Border protection and conflict are discussed at tripartite meetings,” said PCCF, Wildlife’s Subhash Malkhade. However, managing forest fires is now the main concern. Both ways, we provide information about flames to our neighboring states. Data obtained from phone logs and camera traps about smugglers, wildlife, and poachers is also distributed. Since Karnataka is radio-tagging elephants, the movement of the animals is also shared, he said.

The only state in the Western Ghats radio-tagging tigers and elephants before releasing them back into the wild is Karnataka. The Hejje app allows users to follow these creatures’ whereabouts. For the last year, ten elephants in Karnataka have been radio-collared; they include bulls, female chiefs of herds, and makhanas. The radio collaring programme has been in place for the past six years. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) technology was employed in the past; now, satellite technology is used. However, there’s a catch: the movement is only recorded once every two hours.

“The Kerala Forest Department was notified about Belur Makhana’s movement, but they took little action to pursue it. Following Ajeesh’s passing, when they requested its new coordinates, it was found to be in the center of the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, according to a Karnataka forest department officer.

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Human mortality toll rises as funding for reducing interactions between humans and animals declines
Kerala acknowledged Karnataka’s use of technology, but it also made clear that more work has to be done. According to D Jayaprasad, PCCF, Wildlife, Kerala, “Karnataka should share equipment in addition to information.” There is a pause in the satellite data. It is necessary to share the antennas.

An further source of tension, according to a Karnataka forest department official, is the meeting point between one state’s forest patch and another state’s non-forest patch, which consists of urban areas and pockets of revenue. The official used Satymanagala and BRT as an example, stating that each year, Satymanagala elephants cause chaos when they go into non-forest areas close to BRT. Karnataka residents are upset because they are losing lives and crops as a result of this. He recommended that other states radio-collar elephants in response to similar situations.

Working with radio collaring for elephants, Srinivasaiah said that collars are basic instruments that provide fine-grained understanding of animal behavior when it comes to locomotion. It sheds information on things like home ranges and territories, feeding and transportation areas, and habitat utilization.

It is just a tool to aid in understanding the animals, not a way to resolve conflict. More and more, it’s being used to alert people about creatures that live nearby. Cooperation and effective coordination may reduce conflict,” he said.