Hidden in the landscape of the T Narasipura forest range are drones, cameras and traps — the forest department has been using these modern instruments to capture an elusive leopard that killed two people in a month.
It has been two weeks since the operation started and life has come to a standstill in the region. “Leopards started appearing in this landscape 10 to 15 years ago. They used to hunt domestic animals initially, but now humans are getting killed,” says Kallipura Mahadevaswamy, a farmer leader in T Narasipura.
Around 60 km away, in the core habitat of BRT Tiger Reserve, the National Tiger Conservation Authority uncovered several homestays and resorts operating illegally in November. The resorts stay in business despite a Karnataka Lokayukta directive in 2018, mandating the state government to remove such encroachments and to conduct a joint survey of the illegal grant of forest land and unauthorised cultivation. The survey is yet to be completed.
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“As we encroach into their habitats in the name of agriculture, tourism, development projects, and as invasive species like lantana and eupatoria dominate the forest landscape, it is difficult for wildlife to move or find food. They have no other way but to enter our areas,” says Prasad Rakshidi, a coffee grower in Sakleshpur.
Linear intrusions like roads and powerlines, fragmentation of forests, quarrying, sand mining and diversion of forest land for non-forest uses have created new forest edges, where the interface between humans and wildlife has increased, leading to conflict.
Encroachment
According to data from the ministry of environment, forests and climate change, in Karnataka alone, over 83,092 hectares of forest land have been encroached, leading to fragmentation and loss of habitat.
A study published in Tropical Conservation Science found that deforestation severed the link between the tiger reserves of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve and the Bhadra Tiger Reserve most notably in the west (Kodagu) and in the north of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (Hassan district).
Such breaking up of forest land is widespread. Sexagenarian cousins in Sakleshpur, Jayaraj and Ravi remember that in their childhood elders would enter the thick forests of Bisile to collect elephant dung.
“The dried dung would be burnt on certain occasions, particularly when there was a birth in the family. I remember the distinct smell of its smoke, which acted as mosquito repellant,” recalls Ravi. Five decades ago, one had to travel at least 5 km into the forest to find elephant dung, but in the last two decades, “elephants have crossed us and moved 10 km ahead, well into the town,” says Jayaraj.
A collaborative scientific study in 2017 on the impact of small hydropower projects (SHP) on the Western Ghats found that these projects correlated with the onset of human-elephant conflict in the upper reaches of River Netravathi. The study, titled ‘Big concerns with small projects’, found that the number of conflict claims increased from an annual average of 248 (1999 to 2004) to 2,030 claims post-dam construction (2005 to 2013).
The impact is there for us to see: Broken fences, uprooted trees, trampled fields and crushed coffee cherries. Death and destruction due to persistent human-elephant interface in the coffee belts of Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan, in Karnataka, is common. In Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district alone, elephants have killed 72 people since 2000.
A decade ago, when elephants started entering human habitats more frequently, resulting in crop damage, eight villages in Hethur Hobli of Hassan district came forward to give away their land and facilitate the expansion of wildlife areas. “Even now, most of us are ready to relocate with suitable compensation,” Ravi says.
"The proposal submitted in 2014 has not been taken up by the state government. No reason has been given for not considering this proposal,” says Sakleshpur MLA H K Kumaraswamy.
"Karnataka has received around 1,300 crore rupees as compensation for forest loss and fragmentation," says Praveen Bhargav, former member, National Board for Wildlife. However, there is no clarity on the money being invested in consolidation of habitats and voluntary resettlement of people which has the potential to minimise conflicts.
Reclamation and consolidation of the fragmented wildlife habitat goes a long way in addressing the issue. This was evidenced by a reduction in human-bear conflicts in and around Gudekote Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Vijayanagara district, says conservationist Samad Kottur.
Elephants, leopards, tigers and bears occupy the top places in the human-animal conflict chart, mainly because of threat to human life. Wild boars, gaur, deer, blackbuck, monkeys and peacocks also enter fields searching for food. In the process, they cause crop damage, forcing people to change their cropping pattern or even stop cultivation.
Most farmers opt for solar fencing to save their crops. “But solar fences require constant maintenance to function properly. Last year, I got only 50 kg of jowar from 5 acres of land as wild boars dug up the shoots,” says C V Srinidhi from Chamarajanagar. Now he has opted for mesh fencing, which he feels is effective against wild boars.
Another effect is the declining popularity of kitchen gardens due to monkeys, NGO workers mention. “This can have a direct impact on people’s nutrition levels,” says rural researcher Mallikarjuna Hosapalya.
Livelihoods can also take a hit as, in areas with human-elephant conflict, farmers can work only from 10 am to 5 pm. The early morning and late evening hours are when elephants travel to and from their resting places, leading to encounters. “Morning hours were the most productive for us, particularly during harvest season. This means we have to bear invisible losses,” Ramachandra Hebbanalli, a coffee grower, says. Children of labour families, who cannot afford to make alternative arrangements, miss class for weeks together if an elephant is sighted in their locality.
Protected areas
Discrepancies in the management of protected areas push wildlife venture out to the buffer zone and beyond.
Take, for instance, the Ranebennur Blackbuck Sanctuary which was formed in 1974 to preserve the habitats of blackbuck and the great Indian bustard. The critically endangered birds were last sighted in the sanctuary in 1998. Eucalyptus, which covers a major portion of the sanctuary, is one of the main reasons for the disappearance of these critically endangered species. A five-year management plan proposed by the forest department in 2011 to replace the trees has not been implemented.
“Habitats are getting modified from grasslands to scrubland and even plantations due to afforestation activities. Human-blackbuck conflict is a severe issue in this area and needs solutions as these areas are bordered by dryland, small-holding farmers who are economically underprivileged,” says conservation biologist Sanjay Gubbi.
In his book Leopard Diaries, Sanjay explains that granite required for the burgeoning construction industry comes from leopard habitats. “The quarrying of outcrops remains a vexing problem to leopards outside protected areas and poses a regulatory nightmare for those trying to protect these habitats as most of these areas are out of the purview of the forest department, despite having good tree cover,” he writes. The ownership of these areas lies with the revenue department, which issues permits.
This highlights the need for concerted, coordinated efforts from different departments to protect habitats and prevent human-wildlife conflict.
Wildlife population
Conservation scientists criticise acivities such as digging water holes inside forests as artificial conservation efforts. “These activities lead to an artificial increase in their populations even as habitats are shrinking,” says a conservationist.
A senior forest officer says that protection and general awareness among the public have resulted in an increase in animal population. “Conflict is inevitable given our honeycombed forest landscapes and porous forest-non-forest boundaries,” he says.
However, a project elephant official says that the 2012 and 2017 census numbers indicate a stabilised elephant population in the state.
Out of the state’s elephant population of 6,049, it is estimated that around 100 are outside protected areas in the coffee belt.
The situation is slightly different in Kali Tiger Reserve, which has seen an increase in human-tiger conflict as their numbers increase. Cattle kills have doubled and are rising here since 2020.
Managing conflict
The stark reality is that human-wildlife conflict cannot be eliminated totally.
“However, if we adopt a knowledge-driven policy for proper management of habitats along with a time-bound delivery of compensation at market rates, we can still manage the situation reasonably,” says Praveen Bhargav.
Physical barriers have not kept wildlife from entering into human habitats. The interactions have been there for decades. There are many measures that the government has taken up — digging trenches, erecting fences, railway barricade fences etc. These methods have not been effective due to the lack of a comprehensive approach.
Early warning systems like SMS alerts, voice calls and digital display boards, informing people about elephant whereabouts have become part of daily life in Hassan district.
“In Hassan, early warning systems have helped people make informed decisions and reduced fatalities in villages where early warning systems have been functional coupled with regular monitoring of elephant movements by rapid response teams,” says Ananda Kumar, a scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation, who is part of these tech interventions in Hassan district.
Members of the rapid response teams feel that they can be more effective with better training. “We are supposed to facilitate the movement of elephants towards the forests. But this requires proper training and coordination with local communities, both of which are lacking now,” says a rapid response team member in Kodagu.
Even the recent setting up of elephant task forces by the state government has not brought hope to the coffee belts of Karnataka that have seen two humans being trampled by elephants last month — one in Sakleshpur and one in Mudigere.
“Recent incidents have shown that chasing elephants away to another area is not the solution, in turn, it could cause more harm. No government effort takes growers into confidence while formulating strategies,” says K N Subrahmanya, president of Hassan Coffee Growers’ Association.
Frequent interfaces have made people less tolerant towards wildlife. A farmer shooting the famed Dasara elephant Balarama, mistaking it for a wild elephant is the most recent example.
Compensation
Scientific compensation is crucial to the effective management of human-wildlife conflict. In many places, farmers do not report crop loss because either the compensation is too low for the effort or there are inordinate delays. “A pipeline in half an acre of my coffee estate got destroyed by an elephant. The department wanted a receipt as proof of purchase which I could not find as I had bought it six years ago. So I dropped the idea,” says Jayaraj.
While the forest department and conservation agencies have devised some plans to keep elephants inside protected areas, they are yet to come up with real solutions for tigers and leopards.
The limitation of funds adds to the lack of landscape-level planning in many conservation programmes. The state has received inadequate funds for Project Tiger, which was released with significant delay. “A lot of time gets wasted in managing things that should be routine. But we are managing with state government funds. Now we accepted this reality and found ways to manage with whatever funds are available,” a forest department officer says.
“We are taking measures to reduce human-animal conflict. Efforts are also on to remove invasive species in the forests,” says Rajiv Ranjan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.
Managing conflict has proved complex, with most remedies failing either humans or wildlife. Climate change has only aggravated the situation. Greater focus needs to be given to prevention of habitat loss and fragmentation, control of invasive species of plants along with consolidation and relocation of human settlements.