According to Dr P.S. Easa, former head of Kerala Forest Research Institute in Peechi, Thrissur, crowd management is of utmost importance in instances of man-animal conflict. “There tuskers very well know the passage back to their habitat,” Dr Easa, who is also an wildlife expert, told DC. “But, as there was public on all sides on Monday when they reached the residential areas at Mankurissi, they did not get enough time to settle down and travel back to the forest. Besides that, they crossed the Palakkad-Kozhikode NH as the residents were trying to direct them away from the residential areas. In such an event, the cops and revenue officials need to take special care that the stones are not pelted at the animals in a way the stray further away from the forest.”
The ideal way to do away with the man-animal conflict is to evict the residential settlements jutting into forest or on its borders. As a part of relocating people away from the forest, a programme is presently going on in Wayanad where three settlements were vacated by paying Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to all those who are above 18 year of age residing in the settlements. “Lack of funds is the major impediment in fully implementing such schemes,” Dr Easa added.
