Nilgiris : Devala forest range officials conducted an awareness camp on man-animal conflict at Pandiyar TANTEA estate workers’ quarters here. The residents were advised various precautionary and alert measures to avoid man-animal conflicts in the area.
Nilgiris : Devala forest range officials conducted an awareness camp on man-animal conflict at Pandiyar TANTEA estate workers’ quarters here. The residents were advised various precautionary and alert measures to avoid man-animal conflicts in the area.
Forest Ranger Ramadas conducted the camp here and said, “The repeated action of forest officials have reduced Man-elephant conflicts in the area. The public should co-operate to reduce such instances in the future.” Forest officials advised the public to not to cultivate crops that are liked by elephants near residential areas. They also advised the public to not to damage the trenches around houses. Forest officials asked the residents to avoid throwing food and other wastes into the forest area.
“If animals camp near residential areas, public should inform forest officials immediately. Forest officials would take necessary steps to chase away the animals and proper surveillance would be set up here”, said Ramdas.
Several instances of man-elephant conflict were reported in the recent past at Gudalur region. Elephants camped near villages and damaged crops in the area, forcing villagers here to live under constant fear. Forest officials are taking several measures to avoid such conflicts. Recently, a mobile application was launched using which Forest officials sent SMS alerts to villagers on elephant movements in the night.