Man-elephant conflict returns to haunt Tamil Nadu’s Valparai

COIMBATORE: After nearly three years of nil human causality due to wild elephant conflicts in Valparai, the forest department’s hopes of continuing this successful momentum have been shattered by successive incidents of life loss in the plateau so far this year.

Accidental encounters with wild elephants have claimed the lives of three persons including a college student in Valparai. The first incident of this year was on May 8, when Ravi, a tribal activist was chased and trampled to death by a wild elephant in the dark of night, while he was returning home along with five others to Nedungundru Village after selling honey gathered in the forest area.

Before this incident, the last human death in an elephant attack was on June 4, 2021, while in the past decade from 1991 to 2021; around 49 people have lost their lives. It was followed by another conflict on June 1, when S Mukesh (18), a second-year BSc Computer Science student, was riding a bike on the Sholayar Dam Estate Road with his friend in a pillion around evening when he was attacked by a wild elephant at Puthukkad.

In the latest incident, on midnight of December 9, sixty-two-year-old Chandran and three others including two women took to their heels when a herd of elephants entered their worker's quarters at Gajamudi Estate and attacked their tile-roofed houses in search of food.

In the melee, he suffered a fall and died of injuries despite treatment at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on December 17. Officials of the forest department say that all three deaths were nothing but accidental encounters.

“The first attack incident happened inside the reserve forest area forcing the forest department to stay helpless. In the case of a college student, the boy had almost brushed against the elephant in his two-wheeler due to poor visibility caused by mist, resulting in a deadly attack. In the last incident, an elderly man suffered grievous injuries from his fall rather than the attack by the wild elephant. All these incidents were unexpected encounters,” said G Venkatesh, Forest Range Officer (FRO), Valparai Range.

Every year, up to 200 elephants in different herds move into the hills from neighbouring states during the migration season, which usually starts in August. Following rains, Valparai is lush with green vegetation. Peak elephant arrivals will commence in October and November before they start to retreat gradually by February next year.

Valparai recorded zero causality in wild elephant conflict from July 2021 to April 2024.

Ganesh Raghunathan, senior project manager of Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), who works in elephant conflict mitigation in Valparai, said damages would be high every year during the start of migration season as it may take a while for the elephants to get accustomed to human habitations.

“This year, the damages may come down, because of the conversion of ration shops into containers in Thaimudi Estate. However, the issue of poor mobile network connectivity is causing trouble for people in conflict-prone areas. Mitigation measures are delayed as precious time gets wasted during conflicts due to delay in passing information to authorities during elephant arrivals,” he said, adding that so far different herds of around 70 elephants have arrived. It is expected more elephant herds will come in the coming days.

Smart virtual fencing keeps wild elephants away in Valparai

Technology has helped the forest department in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) prevent human-wild elephant conflict in Valparai.

Almost a year after the installation of the Smart Virtual Fencing System in strategic locations in the plateau, damages caused by elephants in human settlements have come down drastically.

Different herds of elephants damaged properties 75 times in the year 2022 and it came down to 52 incidents in 2023.

“After installation of the Smart Virtual Fencing System, the damages caused by elephants have fallen by over 80 per cent. Only over the last week, some sporadic incidents of damage were caused by elephants in their peak migratory season,” said a forest department official.

Even in the recent incidents, the elephant herds had targeted mostly abandoned mud houses and not human habitations.

“Curiously, some elephants are in the habit of damaging walls of these abandoned buildings to consume mud in them for their nutrient content. They have developed a fondness for old clay soil used in these buildings that are more than 25 years old. It has become a habit for them to get a ‘soil treat’ during every migratory season,” said G Venkatesh, Forest Range Officer, Valparai.

In a rather positive development, there was hardly any incident of elephants raiding Public Distribution System (PDS) shops ever since stocks in vulnerable shops were evacuated during closing hours every day to prevent damage to property and loss of food items.

The setting up of cargo containers by replacing the traditionally built shops in Manompoly Forest Range in two vulnerable spots has also come as a saving grace.

The wild elephant migration season which begins in the month of September, reaches its peak in November and December and starts to retreat by January and February.

A total of 1,300 solar-powered smart fencing devices loaded with thermal-based sensors to detect intrusion of any animal were set up in places identified as vulnerable to elephant intrusions – 700 in the Valparai Range and 600 in the Manomboly Range at a cost of Rs 2,995 crore under Tamil Nadu Innovation Initiatives (TANII).

Of them, 100 are equipped with GST technology to generate SMS, when the elephant presence is detected.

As the ten-foot-high smart fence detects the intrusion of elephants even 100 feet away, the solar-powered system triggers an alarm, which is a different combination of sounds and lights to avoid habituation and repel them away from approaching human settlements.

People will also stay alert, if light and siren are turned on whenever an elephant or animal movement is detected close to their habitation, particularly at night. On receiving alerts, the anti-depredation squad of the forest department would also visit the spot to drive back the elephants.

ALL ABOUT CONFLICTS

May 8, 2024: Tribal activist dies in elephant attack in reserve forest area

June 1: College student trampled to death by elephant

December 9: An elderly man dies in a fatal fall while attempting to escape from an elephant attack

1991 to 2021: 49 lives were lost in elephant attacks

October to December: Peak migration season

200 and more elephants migrate to Valparai.

2022: Elephants damaged properties 75 times.

2023: Elephants damaged properties 52 times.

2024: Damages by elephants fell by over 80 per cent.