At a time when the number of human-elephant conflict is on the rise in the country, a wildlife vet and elephant expert has successfully promoted the use of chilli smoke to keep jumbos away from human habitations bordering the forests.
He has demonstrated his cost-effective method in 11 forest divisions in the Himachal Pradesh. The technique is all set to be used in 11 forest circles in Maharashtra soon.
The technique propagated by Dr Rudraditya, a vet from Himachal, involves burning chillies in a gunny sack tied to a stick and placing it on the boundary of the farm/human habitation. The strong pungent smell of the chillies keeps away the elephants.
“This can keep other animals like wild boars and leopards away from human habitation. Wild animals have a strong sense of smell. The chilli smoke can travel up to 500-1,000 metres,” Dr Rudraditya said. Most importantly, it can be used by the villagers/farmers easily by themselves.
Dr Rudraditya had first tried this technique in 2003 in the vicinity of Kafue National Park in Zambia in Africa where he worked as a wildlife vet under United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). later, the technique was tried successfully by other African parks where farmers faced problems from rampaging elephants. He had popularised the method in Thailand and Nepal where he worked as a consultant between 2008 and 2011.
Back in India, he implemented it in certain parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha etc, to keep away elephants. In Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal, chilli smoke was effectively used to keep away sloth bears. He also claimed to have used the technique in Assam tea gardens to solve the menace of leopards and elephants.
Dr Rudraditya concluded his three-month-long campaign to populairse this technique in Maharashtra recently.
He demonstrated this low cost technique in 140 vulnerable Maharashtra villages with success. The State Forest Depart-ment has accepted his proposal to use this technique and will carry out in more villages.
Dr Rudraditya came into elephant conservation after he lost his parents in elephant attack at the age of ten in Namphada National park in Arunachal Pradesh. Since then, he has been sensitising villagers in the States free of cost to check loss of lives and property.
Every year, hundreds of humans and around 40 to 50 elephants are killed during crop raids in the country. Food crops, including millets, sugarcane and banana, grown in the vicinity of forest area bring the elephants there in search of food.
