State writes jumbo dossiers

Krishnendu Mukherjee | TNN | Jun 26, 2016, Kolkata: They are "repeat offenders" of a different sort — victims of lost greenery. Even though their aggression is triggered by loss of forestland in Jharkhand and Odisha, elephants roaming in south Bengal are seen as "threats" to villagers.

In a bid to check man-elephant conflict, particularly in south Bengal where 71 human and seven jumbo deaths were reported in 2015-16, the forest department has decided to maintain records of solitary elephants — tuskers and maknas (tuskless males) — to keep a tab on their behaviour. A forester said it has been planned on the lines of history sheets of crime.

State's chief wildlife warden Pradeep Vyas, though, said these "elephant dossiers" will help them identify trouble-makers. 

"We will maintain records of loners that create trouble, sometimes even killing humans. At times, solitary elephants in an area get together and raid villages even in the non-crop season. If we have to declare an elephant rogue, this dossier will come handy. We won't have to declare a tusker rogue hurriedly," Vyas said.

So , how will it work? Details of all solitary elephants in divisions of south and north Bengal will be gathered from field staff. Their seniors will collate the data and send it to the chief wildlife warden's office at Bikash Bhavan. "Details of height, tusks — whether divergent, convergent or upward — tail, tail brush and size of footprints will be gathered," added Vyas.

Information on whether the elephant was in musth (a periodic condition in male jumbos, characterized by aggression and a rise in reproductive hormones) when it raided a village or attacked a human will be gathered. Vyas said forest staff have also been asked to take pictures of these elephants, if possible.

A source said the focus is more on south Bengal since human-elephant conflict in this region has taken a turn for the worse in the last few years. Recently, chief minister Mamata Banerjee transferred a forester here and asked the department to make sure that no human lives are lost. "We have started working on the dossiers. So far, information on a couple of solitary jumbos has been collected from Bankura. Similar info from Birbhum is yet to be gathered, while no loner is present in Burdwan at the moment. Details of Midnapore is still awaited," a forester said.

Conservationist Joydip Kundu said: "After a long time, the wildlife wing has taken a step for long-term conservation of elephants in Bengal. This practical approach will go a long way in mitigating man-jumbo conflict in the state."

Last year, a tusker was declared 'rogue' in Bankura's Goaldanga area. Hunters registered with the forest department were sent to the area to hunt it down, but as per official reports, the animal couldn't be tracked finally.

Over 2000 and 5000 hectares of jumbo habitat in Jharkhand and Odisha respectively are under miners' control forcing the elephants to move towards locations unsuited for them. The Dalma elephants' prolonged stay in south Bengal is a fallout of this