The Enraged or Encroached Wildlife?
- connect2783
- Feb 24, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 17
What happens when forests shrink and cities expand? From night patrols in Dehradun to AI surveillance in Coimbatore, Indian towns are now navigating a rise in human-animal conflicts. As elephants, leopards, monkeys, and such other wildlife stray closer to urban areas, communities are caught between precaution and coexistence. While some cities turn to tech and fences, some rely on community awareness to restore balance.
Residents of Kotagiri, a hill station in the Nilgiris, remain anxious over frequent encounters with the wildlife who come rummaging for food in the town’s open dump sites near the forests. In October 2023, an elephant was electrocuted near Sindewahi, marking Maharashtra’s 1st elephant death in 100 years. Chief Conservator of Forests, Dr Ramgaonkar highlighted the absence of wild elephants in the Gadchiroli district before this incident, indicating how they have been pushed out of their natural habitat. Increasing urbanisation, agricultural expansion, forest degradation and climate change have contributed to the rise in human-animal conflicts.
Increasing urbanisation, agricultural expansion, forest degradation, and climate change have contributed to the rise in human-animal conflicts.
Monkey menace in Jammu’s Shivalik foothills has forced farmers to cultivate non-traditional crops or migrate to towns in search of other jobs. Meanwhile, increasing incidents of leopard attacks in Dehradun have prompted state authorities to issue orders for night patrolling by forest officials. In Jhargram, the West Bengal Forest Dept is installing 12 km of power fencing to prevent elephant encounters which have resulted in 5 deaths within the town’s municipal boundary.
An AI-based surveillance system has been utilised in Coimbatore to track elephant presence along railway tracks to avoid accidents. Similarly, drones and thermal cameras have been deployed in the Gadchiroli district to mitigate human-animal conflicts. However, experts also urge for controlled usage of tracking technologies, as there is a potential risk of sensitive information being leaked about rare wildlife, thereby making them vulnerable to poaching.
In July 2023, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve’s Talavadi Forest Range organised an awareness rally in town to prevent human-animal conflicts. Meanwhile, fatalities from elephant encounters have prompted authorities in Wayanad to form a people’s monitoring committee along with developing communication channels through community radio, microphone announcements and WhatsApp groups to warn local residents about incursions by wild animals.
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