The Forest Department, which has been facing the heat in Hassan over elephant menace, has been able to track the movement of 26 of the over 40 elephants that are roaming near the villages of Sakleshpur and Alur in the district.
Their movement is being tracked with the help of radio collars placed on two female elephants leading the two herds. The department had captured and tranquilized them, and then put the radio collars. Using a geo-tracer, a mobile application, the department is now able to keep a track of their movement.
Information on their whereabouts is passed on to the general public. This exercise is to avoid man-elephant conflict. “We get an update on the location of elephants on an hourly basis. One herd comprises of 18 elephants and in another, eight. By putting the radio collars, we have been able to track 26 elephants,” Sivaram Babu, Deputy Conservator of Forests, told The Hindu on Friday.
The department has collected the cellphone numbers of over 3,000 people across Alur and Sakleshpur taluks. Every morning, officers send bulk SMSes giving the latest location of the herd. Besides this, there are WhatsApp groups on which information is disseminated. Hoardings are also in place in some villages. The radio collars, with high-capacity battery, work for years.
As per the department’s study, around 40 elephants are roaming in two herds in the taluks. There are a few more which wander either individually or in small groups. The lone tuskers are known to cause huge damage to crops, and the farming community are always on tenterhooks. “We had identified two troublesome tuskers, one was captured. The department has decided to put radio collars on some tuskers too,” he said. Residents of Hosagadde, Rajendrapura, and neighbouring villages staged a dharna at Ballupete in Sakleshpur taluk on Thursday alleging that the government has failed to tackle the elephant menace. Many farmers said they are worried about the safety of schoolchildren as elephants roam closeby.