Coimbatore: Forest officers in Bouluvampatti have begun mapping routes commonly used by elephants to come out of the forest as part of the profiling exercise.
Once the routes are mapped, they will fix high definition (HD) cameras in strategic locations to click the photos of elephants. Once they get a set of images of each elephant, the process of identifying elephants by physical appearance and assigning each of them a South Indian name will begin.
The exercise of profiling elephants in Coimbatore circle began a week ago, with foresters in Bouluvampatti beginning to pin down routes usually taken by the elephants to enter villages. “We are mapping routes and noting the GPS coordinates of the same. We are also making note of GPS coordinates of spots, we feel will be suitable for fixing of cameras so that good and clear images are captured,” Palaniraja, forest ranger for the beat said.
“Right now, for some frequently spotted animals, we have given Indian names and noted down some distinct physical characteristics, but only once we get the cameras and the images confirm our sightings, will we enter it into the data base,” he said.
The forest department is also considering enlisting the help of some NGOs and environmental organizations for the profiling exercise. “We will be bringing in NGOs to monitor the camera images, get their expertise on the profiling and maybe also assist us in the process,” chief conservator of forests Deepak Shrivastava said. “This will help us finish the job faster,” he said. “We successfully finished the exercise in Gudalur with the help of Shola Trust,” he added.
In Madukkarai, however, the process is getting delayed due to regular rain that the district has been receiving since April. “While we are waiting for the arrival of HD cameras, the rain since April have filled the forest interiors with green foliage and easy accessible water pools. Thus, elephants hardly come out of the forest in our beats and even if they do, they remain hidden in the fringes,” Madukkarai forest ranger M Senthil Kumar said
The World Wildlife Fund says they have done the field work for elephant profiling in Walayar of Madukkarai and Kallar part of Mettupalayam. “We are yet to process the data to come out with our findings including number of elephants, number of crop raiding elephants and number of elephants remaining inside the forests,” environmentalist Bhoominathan said. “We are also training rangers in Sirumugai, Karamadai, Periyanaickenpalayam and Coimbatore to profile elephants,” he said.
The chief conservator said he expected the elephant profiling in Bouluvampatti to be completed within the next two months.
