ASSAM ELEPHANTS: State yet to finalise policy

January 31, 2007

State yet to finalise policy

From Our Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Jan 24 – Despite a high casualty, the State Government is

yet to formulate a comprehensive policy on human-animal conflict. The

lack of such a policy means the State has no strategy to deal with

situation arising out of human-animal conflicts, work out measures to

mitigate the problem, compensation for the affected families. Experts

admitted that conflict has an equally disastrous effect on wildlife

population and a major cause for decline in many species.

State Forest Department officials, who came to take part in a national

workshop on human-leopard conflict management, organised by Wildlife

Trust of India and Ministry of Environment and Forest here today, said

they have no record on human-leopard conflicts in Asom. It was

difficult to gather information because there was no feedback from the

districts.

State Chief Wildlife Warden, M.C.Malakar said that State Government

has no policy on leopard-human conflict. But he pointed out that the

State has no problem with leopard. The State, however, has

human-elephant conflicts.

Wild elephants have killed 248 people in Asom in the last five years

while 268 elephants have died in retaliatory by villagers. The State

has the countrys largest population of Asiatic elephants, estimated at

5,300, according to a wildlife census in 2002.

Ministry of State for Environment and Forest, Namo Narain Meena, who

inaugurated the workshop, conceded that the man-elephant conflict

posed a bigger challenge. Of the many forms of man animal conflict,

the one involving tiger and leopard is often considered to be most

dreaded one. Though, wild elephants cause more damage to property and

human death. Some how, when it comes to tiger and leopard, it catches

more public attention and imagination, he added.

In an presentation at the workshop, the DFO, Mahanta said disturbance

of habitat and shrinking prey base has led to the conflict. However,

he confined himself to Guwahati and Tinsukia though leopards are found

in all parts of the State. During the past three years, nine leopards

have been rescued eight carcasses recovered.

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