The increasing incidence of man-animal conflict in northern Kerala have prompted wildlife researchers to go to the root cause of the issue.
Besides the straying of tigers and leopards into human habitations in some districts, human-elephant conflicts were reported from Palakkad and Malappuram districts.
The incidents were relatively new in these districts and the reasons needed to be probed thoroughly, said E.A. Jayson, Head of the Wildlife division of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi.
The increasing or even stable wildlife population, especially of species such as sambar, wild boar and elephants and large-scale conversion of forests into monoculture plantations of teak and eucalyptus and expansion of cultivation were leading to man-animal conflicts in the Western Ghats region of Kerala. The reduced habitat of wild animals in Kerala due to organised encroachments too should be blamed, said Dr. Jayson.
Under attack
A recent study by the KFRI revealed that 45 species of crops, including paddy, coconut palm, plantains, areca nut, coffee, oil palm, pepper, jackfruit trees and mango trees were targeted by wild animals. Crops were mostly raided by elephants, gaur, sambar, wild boar, bonnet macaque, common langur, black-naped hare and peafowl, the study pointed out.
Elephants caused the most damage in Thrissur district during the last three years. A recent study by Mr. Jayson and Suresh K. Govind recorded 36 incidents of wild elephants coming into conflict with humans in Thrissur district during the last three years. The other crop raiders included wild boar, porcupine, Malabar giant squirrel and peafowl. Elephants damaged 1,990 plantains, 307 arecanut, 90 coconut trees and 225 rubber trees and other crops. The encounters occurred in the immediate fringe areas of the forest and up to 100 metre from the forest boundary, according to the research findings.
While the wild boar mostly fed on coconuts, plantains and tubers, porcupines settled for coconuts. They also de-barked the basal portion of the coconut trees in large numbers in Vellikulangara Forest Range.
Malabar giant squirrel showed a special liking for tender coconuts. Peacocks preferred paddy followed by vegetables. They chose to consume paddy when they were ripe, during the harvest season, it was observed. Farmers had been trying everything from solar electric fence to yellow plastic sheets to ward off the animals. The plastic sheets gave some good results in managing wild boar and porcupine, it said.
As Palakkad and Malappuram had come under attacks of elephants, an evaluation of the extent of crop damage by wild animals in Palakkad, Mannarkad, Nilambur south and Nilambur north Forest Divisions would be held during the next three years. Even while assessing the loss of cattle and human injuries due to wild animals in these divisions, mitigation measures would be suggested. A prediction mechanism too would be developed, he said.
