Railway barricades pose threat to wildlife and fail to address the conflict

MADIKERI: Installation of railway barricades to control wild elephant movement has been an existing conflict mitigation method across the state. However, these barricades have not just failed to control the movement of the elephants but are threatening the lives of the wild elephants.

In a not-so-rare event, an adult male tusker was caught on camera crossing the railway barricade at the Nagarahole forest fringes. The tusker risked its life and crossed the barricade in a herculean task and reached the village limits in search of fodder. Similar incidents of elephants crossing the barricades are a usual sight across Abyathmangala and Nellihudikeri villages near Virajpet and entire herds of wild elephants risk their lives while crossing the barricades installed to control their free movement.

“None of the conflict mitigation methods have succeeded in controlling the movement of elephants. Many growers who can afford solar fencing have installed fences across their estates and farmlands. But the elephants uproot a nearby tree, throw them onto the solar fences disconnecting them and then enter the estates and farmlands,” explained Chengappa, a grower in Virajpet taluk.

While railway barricades and solar fences have been installed to control the human-wildlife conflict, the same have not borne any reckonable results. Even as attacks on humans by wildlife are reported regularly across the district, the wildlife too faces threat from the not-so-scientific conflict mitigation methods. In the recent past, there have been incidents where elephants have lost lives while crossing the railway barricades. “The railway barricades have failed to address the conflict in several areas across the district. While crores of funds have been spent for the installation of these barricades, they have been rendered useless and are also threatening the lives of the elephants,” added Chengappa.