To deter human-wildlife conflict and to save seasonal crops, the wild elephants have been collared in Chhattisgarh forest range by forest department with the assistance of wildlife NGO. Interestingly with this Radio collared movement of elephant herd will be tracked and this will help in saving the crops, especially during nights.
Incidentally, nearly 20 lives have been lost in Chhattisgarh where a herd of 19 elephants came come into conflict with human beings after their habitat was disturbed and they were displaced from the forests of neighbouring Odisha State.
Dr Arun Sha, Director- Research and Veterinary Operations, Wildlife SOS said, "The radio collaring operation was very challenging and quite risky. We darted the female elephant after tracking her for nearly six kilometres in deep forests and induced partial sedation with a tranquilizer. In a procedure called standing sedation, which was carried out with exceptional care and precision, we radio collared the female elephant who is also the matriarch of the herd. This will now enable us to track the movements of the herd and see what ranging patterns emerge. Next we hope to radio collar two bull elephants also from the same herd."
Interestingly, Matriarch - older female elephant lead the group of 19 member strong herd and used to venture out to agricultural farms that border the forest areas in Mahasamund district. "The herd goes in field to eat crops at night as the forest could not serve them sufficient nutrition food for them, however, when villagers try to drive them away to protect their crops, the elephants panic and run helter-skelter causing damage to crops, property and also human live," said Wildlife SoS official.
The official further said that to address the rapidly growing Human Elephant Conflict, (HEC) launched the radio collar movement has been started this will not only help track their movement but also create an early earning alert system to help save human lives too.
Under Human - Elephant Conflict Mitigation program in this area - After working closely with Chhattisgarh Forest Department to also collate data on the extent of crop damage , and other possible cause of the conflict, to come up with a sustainable solution to the conflict, to come up with a sustainable solution to the problem," the Wildlife SOS (WSOS) official explained.
"Real Challenge before us was locating and radio collaring the elephants, and this was not easy task," adding, "The herd of elephants moved constantly, often at night. The forest cover was dense and it was not possible to sight the elephants easily. Wildlife SOS and the Chhattisgarh Forest Departmentdeployed a team of elephant trackers who tracked the elephant herd every single day for several months to understand their movement patterns," the official added.