Although locals, politicians, and farmers encourage Kerala wildlife authorities to dart elephants and tigers that frequently invade human settlements and cause property damage, environmentalists stressed the importance of finding alternatives.
Currently, wild elephant and tiger attacks are common in Kerala's Idukki, Palakkad, and Wayanad districts. There is a growing demand to dart two wild elephants in Idukki known as Padayappa and Arikomban. Forest officials were also taking moves in this direction.
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Raising concerns against it, Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samiti (WPSS — Wayanad nature protection forum) urged that instead of darting and culling wild animals, the forest and wildlife authorities should analyse the real cause for them entering human settlements and take corrective measures.
WPSS president N Badusha alleged in a representation to the Chief Wildlife Warden that certain forums of high-range farmers were unleashing misleading campaigns against threats by wild animals. Real issues like encroachments in forests, increasing tourism activities in forests, monoculture plantations for industrial purposes and indiscriminate exploitation of raw materials were reasons that aggravated human-animal conflicts.
He also said that healthy tuskers were integral to supporting a healthy elephant population and hence, indiscrete darting and taming of wild elephants could affect the elephant population. The authorities should instead consider relocating such elephants to semi-wilderness habitats, as practised in Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves, and implement early warning systems, he urged.