(IN) The sweetness of the forbidden crop

April 26, 2007

6T135635Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-295721-1.xml

Indian elephants prefer crops to forest fodder - study

Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:08 PM IST[image: 137]

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By Bappa Majumdar

KOLKATA (Reuters) - A government study in India has shown elephants prefer

food crops to forest fodder and often travel hundreds of miles to the same

farmland every year, even remembering specific months of harvesting.

Elephants were adapting to new foods as their traditional habitat was

shrinking due to villagers encroaching in forests, experts said after a

four-year study on Asian elephants in West Bengal state.

" They find food crops more palatable and come back to farmlands to satisfy

their taste buds, " Ujjal Bhattacharjee, chief conservator of forests in West

Bengal, told Reuters on Thursday.

During the federal government study, which was finished last month, hundreds

of wildlife experts and volunteers trapped dozens of elephants and installed

radio and satellite collars on them.

Elephants are migratory animals and move from one forest to another through

corridors which are now fragmented due to villages and farmlands,

conservationists say, making the animals change their habits.

" Villagers were cultivating crops right on their path and were responsible

for the changing food habits of elephants, " said Shakti Ranjan Banerjee of

the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

Home to 50,000 wild Asian elephants a century ago, just 21,300 elephants are

roaming India's national parks and forests.

Elephants are also shot by hunters for precious ivory and sometimes killed

by villagers to protect their fields.

Wildlife officials were hopeful the study could help mitigate the conflict

and strengthen the elephant corridor.

" Relocating villages with people's support and securing the corridor is

definitely an option, " Bhattacharjee said.

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