Human-Animal Conflict
Context:
- According to reports, the rice-eating rogue elephant Arikomban, which was relocated from Chinnakanal to Periyar Tiger Reserve, has been seen close to Kumily Town.
Arikompan:
- Arikompan, which is formed from the Malayalam words “ari” for “rice” and “kompan” for “tusker,” has over the years acquired both a personality and a reputation, much like other elephants do.
- In search of sustenance, it broke into homes and stores.
- The State Forest Department produced an affidavit describing the harm Arikompan had caused since both the locals and the forest workers had grown afraid of the elephant’s erratic raids during the previous ten years.
- Based on this, the Kerala High Court, after consulting an expert committee, decided on April 13 that the animal be relocated, first to Parambikulam and then to the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
Animal-human conflict:
- When human activities, such as resource extraction, infrastructure construction, or agriculture clash with wild animals, both people and animals suffer the consequences. This is referred to as a human-animal conflict.
Implications:
- Economic Losses: Conflict between humans and animals can cause serious financial losses for individuals, particularly farmers and livestock keepers. Wild animals can kill cattle, damage infrastructure, and destroy crops, which can put a strain on finances.
- Threats to Human Safety: Especially in locations where people and wildlife cohabit, wild animals can be a hazard to human security. Large predator attacks, including those by lions, tigers, and bears, can leave victims dead or seriously injured.
- Ecological harm: Conflict between humans and animals may be harmful to the environment. For instance, when people kill predators, it may increase the population of prey, which may subsequently result in ecological imbalances.
- Human-animal conflict can also be a barrier to conservation efforts because it alters people’s perceptions of wildlife and makes it challenging to put conservation strategies into action.
- Human-animal conflict can also have psychological effects on individuals, particularly those who have been the targets of attacks or have had their property damaged. Trauma, worry, and terror might result from it.
Motives behind the conflict:
- Urbanisation and growth.
- Insufficient protected zones.
- surge in population.
- increase of agriculture.
- Changes in the climate.
- exotic species.
- expansion of ecotourism.
- Significant growth in the population of animals that reproduce frequently, such as wild boars and peacocks.
Steps the government has taken:
- Project Elephant was introduced by the Indian government as a centrally sponsored scheme in 1992.
- The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 establishes the guidelines for the protection and conservation of wildlife in India.
- There are 106 national parks, 567 wildlife sanctuaries, and 105 conservation reserves now in existence.
- Project Tiger: It was established by the Indian government in 1973, and while there were only 9 tiger reserves at the time, there are now 53 in India.
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) established the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme at the tenth Conference of the Parties in 1997.
- Operation Thunderbird: To combat wildlife crime, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, organised an operation in India.
- Plan Bee: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has embraced this novel approach to keep elephants away from railway tracks, and there are plans to use it nationwide to protect elephant lives.
How to deal with:
- To raise villagers’ awareness of the problems and wildlife, the forest department needs to strengthen communication and involvement with the community.
- Wildlife corridors: Without having to overcome barriers created by people, which could endanger animals and possibly humans, animals can freely move from one habitat patch to another.
- Participation of the Community: In order for these measures to be effectively planned and put into action, the impacted communities must be involved and sound conservation practises must be taken into account.
- Increasing the number of protected areas is necessary for animal conservation and to prevent any interactions between people and animals.
Other measures:
- These include barriers (fences, nets, and trenches), security and early-warning systems, deterrents and repellents (sirens, lights, beehives), translocation (moving wildlife), compensation or insurance, offering risk-reduction alternatives, and managing tensions between parties involved in these situations.
