The Kerala Police on Friday arrested one person and detained another in connection with the recent killing of a pregnant elephant. The arrested man, an estate worker who grows cash crops and spices, reportedly told investigators that they set up a piece of crackers-filled fruit to scare and kill wild boar, often destroying their crops.
While elephant killing is heart-wrenching, the case points to a major conservation challenge that India faces today: the human-animal conflict.
One hundred forty-four people died between April 2014 and May 2017, as many were elephants, tigers and leopards. Unfortunately, there is no government data on animal deaths due to human-animal conflict.
ALSO READ: Delhi launches app to help track hospital beds for Covid-19 patients
This conflict is increasing. On the one hand, there is the explosion of human population, shrinking forest cover, urbanization, poaching, increased road density, destruction of natural corridors and agricultural expansion.
On the other hand, India is also home to the largest population of tigers, Asian elephants, leopards and lethargic bears, and these animals cannot be banned within the delimited areas.
With demands for development – disruptive projects in protected areas were also approved during the national lockout – conflicts will escalate in the future.
It is not easy to strike the right balance between development needs and the preservation of the natural world, but, as studies show, ways of managing crises are better.
Monitoring and evaluating human-wildlife conflicts and compiling data on conflict situations, their causes and solutions; To formulate a research, planning and a long term policy / management framework; Reclamation land use planning (with enough space for humans and animals, buffer zones and wildlife corridors); Strengthen community-based natural resource management; Involve communities in forest-based employment such as ecotourism;
Compensate for loss of life, crops and livestock; And it suggests that their natural heritage is better managed than others. States should also have rescue units and animal crisis centers, adequate forest professionals, veterinarians and equipment. As coronavirus disease shows, loss of natural habitats increases the risk of epidemics.
This is not only due to loss of biodiversity, but also because it forces animal species to venture to new bases, and to contend with humans. The Kerala tragedy is a warning for a better framework to deal with conflict.
