‘Wild animal population goes up following conservation measures’
14 Nov 2014 11:00 AM IST
Forest minister MSM Anandan made statement while chairing meeting at FCRI
Forest minister M.S.M. Anandan, chairs a meet in Coimbatore on Thursday to control man animal conflict. -DC
Coimbatore: A significant increase in population of wild animals like tigers, leopards and elephants has led to their straying out of forest cover, said forest minister MSM Anandan. Chairing a meeting at Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) here on Thursday on curbing man-animal conflicts, Mr Anandan said that wild animal population has gone up due to conservation measures and expansion of forest cover taken up by the government.
As wild animals have been straying into human settlements, various efforts are also being taken to prevent man-animal conflicts. “Wild animals stray into human habitations due to encroachments by human beings in the forest land. This further leads to man-animal conflicts,” he said.
To control these conflicts in districts like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts, ‘Operation Malai’ was put into operation a year ago. “A herd of six elephants, which created a ruckus in Tiruvannamalai district, was captured and trained in elephant camps at Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve ,” Mr Anandan said.
Trenches were dug for 809 kilometers in 2013-2014 at a cost of Rs 30.87 crores in areas identified as prone to elephant intrusions. "Since wild animals were found to stray out of forests in search of food and water, check dams, water tanks and small ponds were created in forests. Similarly fodder was grown in the forests to fulfil the needs of wild animals," he said.
The minister said that due to such conservation efforts, the population of elephants, tigers and leopards had increased steadily. Hans Raj Verma, principal secretary, environment and forests, VK Melkani, principal chief conservator of forests, District Collector Archana Patnaik, MLA's OK Chinnaraj, Duraisamy alias Challenger Durai and other forest department officials took part in the meet.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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