Wayanad becomes a hot spot of human-wildlife conflict

Kalpetta Wayanad has become a hotspot for human-wildlife conflict, causing distress to farmers and unrest in the area.

Wayanad has become a human-wildlife conflict hotspot in the State, distressing settler farmers and stoking unrest.

The death of Aji, 45, of Panachi at Chaligaddha under the Begur Forest range in the North Wayanad Forest Division in an elephant attack on Saturday morning, was the latest incident.

While returning home after meeting some workers, a radio-collared elephant trampled Aji to death.

K.S. Deepa, Chief Wildlife Warden, North Zone, told the media that the Karnataka Forest department had captured and released the elephant after fixing a radio collar on the animal.

Forest officials suspect that network latency reportedly caused the Karnataka authorities to transmit the elephant’s location belatedly to their counterparts in Kerala.

They said real-time tracking of radio-collared wild animals was rarely fool-proof, given the technical snags that could crop up at any time.

Two months ago, a dairy farmer at Koodallur under the South Wayanad Forest Division was killed in a tiger attack while he was reaping fodder for his livestock. Wildlife managers have set up two cages to capture an elusive tiger which reportedly killed two domestic animals in the Pulpally area.