Summer scares: With the peaking of summer, marauding wild animals throw life out of gear in the eastern regions of Kollam

Explore the escalating human-wildlife conflict in Kollam's eastern regions as summer heat drives animals into towns and farms.

The residents of Alayamon grama panchayat in Kollam are currently trapped in a living nightmare. The relentless March sun had brought with it some unprecedented visitors—a nomadic herd of gaurs.

For the past few weeks, these massive bovines have been roaming from ward to ward, effortlessly leaping over compound walls. The atmosphere in the region is thick with a palpable sense of panic—children are kept under virtual house arrest, and the streets fall into a haunted silence after dusk. The fear reached a breaking point following a recent incident where two individuals sustained serious injuries following an accident involving the animals, prompting local authorities to begin emergency public announcements to caution the residents.

“It’s a new thing for us; we have been continuously spotting them for three weeks, and they can hide anywhere in the thickets of vacant properties,” explains Aseena Manaf, a resident of Kadavaram.

“It all began when a young milk delivery boy rounded a corner and stopped dead before the towering silhouettes,” she adds. He bolted for safety leaving his milk cans behind—a stark symbol of how the basic rhythms of rural life have been upended by the desperate migration of wildlife from the drying reserves.

This scene is no longer a seasonal anomaly but a grim annual fixture in the eastern reaches of Kollam. During the harsh summer months, the forest fringes of the district, particularly regions like Pathanapuram, Anchal, and Kulathupuzha, become hotspots for human-wildlife conflict. As natural water sources deep within the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary and the eastern reserve forests dry up, animals are driven towards human settlements in desperate search for hydration and fodder.

Climate change has fundamentally rewritten the ecological script of these places, turning the once-predictable rhythms of the monsoon and the following dry spell into a chaotic cycle of extremes. In regions like Anchal and Kulathupuzha, the harsh summer has evolved into a prolonged atmospheric siege.