Coimbatore: With the “Gaja Yatra” of Chinnathambi taking the wild tusker from district to district along the Western part of Tamil Nadu, experts have suggested to try out ‘soft release’, a method that allows the de-conditioning of wild problem elephants in the wild without bringing them to captivity.
The method that has been adopted in African countries and in some parts of Sri Lanka could provide another lease of life for problem elephants and keep them in their wild habitat.
Coimbatore: With the “Gaja Yatra” of Chinnathambi taking the wild tusker from district to district along the Western part of Tamil Nadu, experts have suggested to try out ‘soft release’, a method that allows the de-conditioning of wild problem elephants in the wild without bringing them to captivity.
Though the possibilities look bleak considering the seriousness of the issue and the lack of preparedness for such kind of an operation, if happened, it could be the first of its kind atleast in the Southern part of the country that has seen a rise in Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) in recent times.
According to D. Boominathan, Landscape Coordinator for Worldwide Fund for Nature, the method of ‘soft release’ involves releasing a problem elephant inside a semi wild enclosure upto a five acre plot within a forested landscape. Once the animal is let inside the secured plot, it is allowed to settle down in the forest area, where it can feed only on forest fodder.
“The animal could have been conditioned to raiding farmlands and feeding on farm produce. To allow a crop raider to start eating forest fodder, it takes time depending upon the individual behaviour of the animal,” he said.
The same idea has been suggested for Chinnathambi as the animal has been totally habituated to feeding from farm produce and even ragi rice cake, which was evident from the last one week of his Gaja Yatra from Varagaliyaru to the Amaravathi River near Dindigul.
However, no such preparation has been made by forest officials in neither Anamalai Tiger Reserve, nor Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, which allows for such a try out. Yet, the Madras High Court directing the State to think outside captivity for the fate of Chinnathambi, experts suggest that soft release could work as a hard release has obviously not worked so far.
Though being suggested in the Guidelines for Management of HEC by the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2017, soft release, which has been tried out intensively in Sri Lanka and African countries to de-condition problem elephants, has not been tried in India.
It was suggested by environmentalists in Kerala for a problem elephant named “Kallur Komban” that was caught in 2016. However, the Kerala Forest Department did not endorse the move and decided to keep the animal in captivity, putting it inside the Kraal for more than a year.
The only other concern raised by environmentalists for opting such a move is the blockage of the enclosure area for other smaller mammals, which could have been living there. Since the area could be barricaded to not allow the elephant to move out. However, since the idea could be tried only in rare cases like that of Chinnathambi’s and the enclosure is only temporary, they say that such operations can be tried to see how the tusker responds, since bringing the animal into captivity could stop its gene from spreading.
Meanwhile, Chinnathambi has found refuge near the Amaravathi River that separates Tirupur and Dindigul district. Officials on the other hand are still playing a waiting game, which could extend until Monday depending on the directions of the Madras High Court.
Coimbatore: With the “Gaja Yatra” of Chinnathambi taking the wild tusker from district to district along the Western part of Tamil Nadu, experts have suggested to try out ‘soft release’, a method that allows the de-conditioning of wild problem elephants in the wild without bringing them to captivity.
Though the possibilities look bleak considering the seriousness of the issue and the lack of preparedness for such kind of an operation, if happened, it could be the first of its kind atleast in the Southern part of the country that has seen a rise in Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) in recent times.
According to D. Boominathan, Landscape Coordinator for Worldwide Fund for Nature, the method of ‘soft release’ involves releasing a problem elephant inside a semi wild enclosure upto a five acre plot within a forested landscape. Once the animal is let inside the secured plot, it is allowed to settle down in the forest area, where it can feed only on forest fodder.
“The animal could have been conditioned to raiding farmlands and feeding on farm produce. To allow a crop raider to start eating forest fodder, it takes time depending upon the individual behaviour of the animal,” he said.
The same idea has been suggested for Chinnathambi as the animal has been totally habituated to feeding from farm produce and even ragi rice cake, which was evident from the last one week of his Gaja Yatra from Varagaliyaru to the Amaravathi River near Dindigul.
However, no such preparation has been made by forest officials in neither Anamalai Tiger Reserve, nor Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, which allows for such a try out. Yet, the Madras High Court directing the State to think outside captivity for the fate of Chinnathambi, experts suggest that soft release could work as a hard release has obviously not worked so far.
Though being suggested in the Guidelines for Management of HEC by the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2017, soft release, which has been tried out intensively in Sri Lanka and African countries to de-condition problem elephants, has not been tried in India.
It was suggested by environmentalists in Kerala for a problem elephant named “Kallur Komban” that was caught in 2016. However, the Kerala Forest Department did not endorse the move and decided to keep the animal in captivity, putting it inside the Kraal for more than a year.
The only other concern raised by environmentalists for opting such a move is the blockage of the enclosure area for other smaller mammals, which could have been living there. Since the area could be barricaded to not allow the elephant to move out. However, since the idea could be tried only in rare cases like that of Chinnathambi’s and the enclosure is only temporary, they say that such operations can be tried to see how the tusker responds, since bringing the animal into captivity could stop its gene from spreading.
Meanwhile, Chinnathambi has found refuge near the Amaravathi River that separates Tirupur and Dindigul district. Officials on the other hand are still playing a waiting game, which could extend until Monday depending on the directions of the Madras High Court.