Conserving elephants in the southernmost western ghats

The government has notified 1,197 sq. km. in Agasthyamalai landscape in Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts as the State’s fifth elephant reserve

As a child, Gopal saw a herd of 37 elephants — yes, he counted them one by one — on the southern edge of the Western Ghats.

Around 40 years later, as an anti-poaching watcher now, he remembers how the herd spent almost a day along the dry deciduous forests on the eastern slopes of the landscape, which is crucial for the long-term elephant conservation.

In a renewed effort, the Tamil Nadu government, on World Elephant Day, notified 1,197 sq. km. in Agasthyamalai in Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts (most of it protected area) as the State’s fifth elephant reserve. According to the 2017 census, the new reserve has about 200 elephants.

“It is one of the most significant milestones in conservation efforts for elephants,” said Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests. The notification comes 20 years after the formation of the previous elephant reserve.

“Initially, we plan to set up a conservation centre there along with a state-of-the-art rescue and rehabilitation centre with focus on research,” says Ms. Sahu. This could shape up as the ones in Top Slip and Mudumalai where ‘kumki’ elephants are housed to drive wild elephants away from human habitations back into the forests.

“The Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) administration has drawn up plans for resurrecting the elephant migratory paths and removing encroachments along the corridors within the landscape,” says N. Senthil Kumar, Field Director, KMTR.

The plan is also to increase the camps for anti-poaching watchers and forest personnel in the forward areas and high ridges, where they can stay for four to five days. On the cards are increasing the strength of anti-poaching watchers and intensifying patrolling, removal of weeds and creation of scientifically dug trenches to avoid crop raiding, he adds.