(IN): Demonstration on use of bhoot jolokiyas to chase away jumbos

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*Link: http://www.sentinelassam.com/

 

Demonstration on use of bhoot jolokiyas to chase away jumbos

 

* From our Correspondent

JORHAT, Jan 8: The bhoot jolokiya, acknowledged as the hottest chilli in the

world, may now act as an 'elephant-repellant,' too. The Jorhat Forest

Division enlisted the cooperation of a Guwahati-based trust for biodiversity

conservation, Ecosystems-India, for demonstration of the efficacy of the hot

chilli to chase away herds of marauding elephants in jumbo-infested areas

here. The demonstration, conducted by the staff of Ecosystems-India's Assam

Haathi Project, took place at Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday.

The drill involved 'non-lethal control methods' to keep elephants at bay,

Nandita Hazarika of Ecosystems-India said. These methods include use of

chilli smoke and chilli-grease rope as deterrents to ward off wild jumbos.

Hazarika pointed out that elephants have low tolerance to chillies. Chilli

smoke and chilli ropes smeared with grease use the bhoot jolokiya which is

abundantly available here. Another system to tackle elephant menace is the

use of pencil battery-operated trip wires fixed at 200 to 300 metres away

from human dwellings. The wires set off warning bells at the approach of

elephants towards a village. The villagers can then devise means to drive

the jumbos away which saves them vigils at night.

The nature activist said that these simple, low-tech and cost-effective

methods, which can be handled by anyone, have already been used in Africa

and south-east Asia. These techniques are being tested in India for the

first time, she claimed.

Assam Haathi Project is also working on the selective use of solar power

fencing for protection of rural homesteads, including granaries and kitchen

gardens, from elephant depredation. The battery power fencing has been

designed such that the costs are substantially lower than

commercially-installed fencing and easily maintained by the villagers,

Hazarika said.

The mitigation measures demonstrated are being used by EcoSystems-India in

select villages of Sonitpur and Goalpara districts to help communities cope

with the escalating conflict incidences. Assam Haathi Project, supported by

North of England Zoological Society, Chester, UK, aims at facilitating

co-existence between man and elephant in Asom by addressing the immediate

needs for conflict mitigation. The project focuses on capacity building of

local communities to protect their livelihoods and carries research on the

patterns and dynamics of the conflict for devising integrated strategies for

long-term conflict mitigation.

The project also conducts awareness generation about loss and degradation of

forest cover which is the root cause of the problem.

The demonstrations in Jorhat is the first in the series of the training

programmes planned to help the Assam Forest Department tackle the

human-elephant conflict now prevailing all over the State. Jorhat Divisional

Forest Officer RK Das, Assistant Conservator of Forests Gunin Saikia and

other staff of Jorhat Forest Division were present during the demonstration.

 

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