Jumbo rescue centre to come up in Ranchi

RANCHI: In view of growing man-animal conflicts, mainly involving elephants in Jharkhand, the state forest department said they have started applying enforcement of prohibitory orders as one of the measures to prevent gatherings and subsequent fatalities.
Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Sanjay Kumar said, “We are asking all the districts to impose Section 144 whenever elephants or other wild animals raid or venture.The prohibitory orders are mainly to prevent unwanted crowding in the area to allow smooth passage to the animal.”
Many districts have already started imposing Section 144. “For example, in June, Godda district had imposed prohibitory orders in the affected zones where at least two persons were killed by elephants,” said Godda DFO Arvind Kumar.
Man-animal conflict is an unending menace in Jharkhand with regular reports of casualties and damage to properties. According to data received from the department, around 600 people have died or were injured in elephant attacks since 2009. The data also recorded deaths of around 80 elephants due to unnatural reasons such as electrocution, road accidents and food poisoning during the same time period.
Notably, in 2016, the state forest department launched the web-based Elephant Tracking System aimed at constant monitoring of movements. Under the system, forest officials on the ground across 32 territorial and four wildlife divisions are mandated to daily track herd movements and feed inputs such as the number of elephants and the area’s GPS location. The measure was initiated to take preventive steps in advance and has by far proved beneficial.
Kumar added, “Many casualties occur mainly due to blockade of animal movements when people tend to crowd and shoo them away in an unscientific manner. In recent times, taking selfies, too, has resulted in human casualties. As much as infrastructural preparedness to mitigate elephant threats, awareness and local cooperation, too, are required.”
Asked about other measures in place, Kumar said, “In 2018-19, we have formed 11 quick response teams to tackle man-animal conflicts. This apart, work on an elephant (animal) rescue centre in Ranchi to treat and rehabilitate injured animals is also underway.”