Elephants do give a jumbo headache to Odisha as even when human casualties owing to attack by the big mammal are on the rise, so too elephants’ deaths continue with the Energy Department emerging as the new poacher.
As per data available with the Government, year 2017-18 saw a total of around 50 people becoming victims to jumbo aggression till December-end. Similarly, around 10 elephants were killed in 2017-18 till December-end. And electrocution alone has taken valuable lives of eight elephants whereas trains mowed down two more jumbos. The balance-sheet, however, points to a high order of human casualties that are preventable. Odisha also has figured consistently among top-5 States in the country for incurring maximum human casualties owing to jumbo aggression.
A heartening fact, however, is that despite higher human casualties and heavy crop loss, retaliatory deaths, by poisoning or other means, of elephants in Odisha has been nil since last three consecutive years. Three districts, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Baleswar, have basically borne the brunt of jumbo aggression as these districts share the elephant corridors with West Bengal and Jharkhand, on which elephants have been moving since ages.
Though the State Government easily attribute such elephant-human conflicts to fragmentation of forests and an increased human population encroaching upon areas of elephant corridors, it has failed in rolling out a plan of action to prevent the recurrence of such conflicts. Reports show how villagers in the three districts are virtually left to their fate with the Forest Departments often implementing traditional methods like fire burning, etc., to ward off the jumbo menace.
But the fact of the matter is jumbo menace is not insurmountable. There is a permanent solution to such conflicts, and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has many proven practices to show way. For that, the Forest Department alone cannot suffice; the Agriculture Department too has to join hands to intervene in the crop-growing patterns in the villages on the elephant corridors and bring up bio-fences to dissuade jumbos preying on paddy or horticulture crops.
Assam shows the way in mitigating the human casualties owing to elephant attacks. As per the WTI, bringing up active bio-fences not only dissuade the big mammal from straying but also work wonders in raising per capita income of farmers, who cultivate paddy for subsistence.
Significant here is that farmer suicides have also been reported over the years from the very districts of Mayurbhanj, Baleswar and Sundargarh.
The WTI says that either farmers there may be persuaded to change the crops sown from paddy to cash crops like chilli and ginger or cultivate a bio-fence by way of building up what it calls a ‘living perimeter’ around paddy crops to keep the big mammal at bay. “Since the first option has a bearing on food security of the populace, the second one is most appropriate for States like Odisha,” observes the WTI.
The WTI adds that a living perimeter surrounding the habitations and farmlands could be brought forth by cultivating chilli, citrus and beehives. The reason: these crops repel the big mammal through thorns, stings and capsaicin smell. The use of beehives in bio-fences is most successful as it was observed that when confronted with the sound of angry bees, jumbos emit a unique, low-frequency or infrasonic alarm call to warn other elephants moving in the area to stay off the limits. Moreover, honey also brings the avenue of more income for farmers, the WTI says.