While soaring birds scouring for prey may be a common problem across airports around the world, the authorities in Mysuru are grappling with wild boars and jackals which were sighted within the airport premises in the recent past.
And ahead of the resumption of commercial flight operations from Mysuru from September 20, the airport authorities, in association with the Forest Department, have launched a drive to ensure that wild boars and jackals or other wild animals, if any, are driven out of the airport periphery and the entry points sealed.
Vast open spaces with shrub vegetation and connectivity to nearby lakes may be one of the factors for these wild animals to get drawn towards the airport. But it is the absence of human disturbance that may have played a crucial part in some of these animals frequenting the airport.
Deputy Conservator of Forests V. Yedukondalu told The Hindu that they received complaints of the presence of wild boars and jackals from the airport authorities and hence launched a combing operation on Thursday. “We have pressed 80 personnel into service and they will comb the entire airport land to ensure that the open area abutting the runway and taxiway paths are fully sanitised,” he added.
Director, Mysuru Airport, M.N. Singh said it is not that the jackals and wild boars are resident animals. “This is a vast area and our staff have sighted them a couple of times in the past. So ahead of the resumption of flights, we though it fit to secure the area and sanitise it fully,” he added. The matter was reported to the Deputy Commissioner and the Wildlife Wing in the Forest Department and they are conducting the combing operations, Mr. Singh added. However, he pointed out that there was no food and water resources for wildlife to survive within the airport periphery and hence at best they may have strayed. To combat birds, the authorities have installed Zon bird scaring guns at different locations and it creates a booming sound periodically to scare away the birds.
The airport is barricaded with walls surrounding the boundary and there is no scope for wildlife coming inside. Yet, there are chances that wild boars could bore their way inside and hence precautionary measures will be taken to seal them, Mr. Yedukondalu said.
The scouring party of the Forest Department fanned across the vast swathe of the airport and bust crackers to scare away wild animals in case they were hiding in the bushes and tall grass. Mechanised grass cutters will also be pressed into service to trim them and clear the area and the operations will be held on Friday as well.
