EFFECTIVENESS OF ELEPHANT PROOF EFFECTIVENESS OF ELEPHANT PROOF MEASURES IN KEONJHAR FOREST DIVISION

(TERRITORIAL) ORISSA INDIA(TERRITORIAL), ORISSA, INDIA

Satyanarayan MishraDepartment of Zoology, Utkal Universityp f gy y

Bhubaneswar, Orissa

INTRODUCTION

Human elephant conflict is a major issue in Orissa and becoming a great headache for the forest officials as well as for the local stake holder.

Although the distribution of elephants extends its range to 24 districts out of 30 districts, Keonjhar district is facing the maximum damage due to various factors.

Keonjhar Forest Division (Territorial) is situated towards northern most part of Orissa (21o01' N and 22o10' N latitude and 85o11' E to 86o22' E longitude) bordering Singhbhum district of Jharkhandbordering Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

This Forest division is enriched with 3236 km2 forest cover which is 38.97% of district geographical area and 2.07% of state geographical area.

In order to minimize the man elephant interaction, elephant proof measures have been constructed in different conflict prone areas of Keonjhar.have been constructed in different conflict prone areas of Keonjhar.

The current study focused on the effectiveness of these mitigating measures.

STUDY AREA

Geographical Area = 8303 sq. kmForest Cover = 3236 sq. kmNo of Ranges = 7 noNo. of Ranges = 7 no.No. of elephants = 33 (2007 census)

METHODOLOGY

The list of elephant proof measures were collected from the Keonjhar Divisional forest office.All along the elephant proof measures were surveyed to assess the breakage or discontinuity of the elephant proof measures.Along the measures the people of the vicinity villages were interviewed regarding the frequency of the man-elephant conflict.The data from the forest office regarding conflict issues were matched with the statement given by the local stake holders.As per the collected data the villages were catagorised as As per the collected data the villages were catagorised as low conflict sensitive zone, medium conflict sensitive zone and high conflict sensitive zone.

RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

There are 15 elephant proof measures are There are 15 elephant proof measures are constructed in Keonjhar Forest Division(T), out of which 10 are electric power fences and 5 of of which 10 are electric power fences and 5 of them are elephant proof trenches/stone walls.Out of seven ranges only four have elephant Out of seven ranges, only four have elephant proof measures barring Barbil Range, ChampuaRange Patna Range and Telkoi RangeRange, Patna Range and Telkoi Range.

EELEPHANT PROOF MEASURES OF KEONJHAR FOREST DIVISION (T), ORISSA

5

6Stonewall/trench Electric fence

4

2

3

1

0

Champua Keonjhar BJP Ghatgaon

Sl No Range Name of the proof measure Adjacent villages

Elephant proof measures in different ranges of Keonjhar

Sl. No. Range Name of the proof measure  Adjacent villages

1 Keonjhar Sadar Basudevpur ‐ Badamanohar purTalapada, Kadaliposi, Manoharpur, Odia, Bautiposi, Guhalachatua, Kabitra, Nunjharan, Raghunathpur, Chaka Dimbo

2 Keonjhar Sadar Baghuasahi ‐ Basudevpur

3 Keonjhar Sadar Baghuasahi ‐ Kery Chaka, Dimbo3 Keonjhar Sadar Baghuasahi  Kery

4 Keonjhar Sadar Bhaliadihi ‐ Judia ghat Bhaliadihi, Jamunalia, Keonjhar town, Judia

5 Keonjhar Sadar Sidhamatha ‐ Pokharapani Sidhamatha, Ukuchabeda, Balaniposi, Basantapur

6 Keonjhar Sadar Dhekote ‐ Naranpur Dhekote, Naranpur, Nelung, Mahadevpur, Chakaj p , p , g, p ,

7 Keonjhar Sadar Dhudurpal ‐ Dhudurpal Hudi Dhudurpal, Jhadbelda, Kempasada

8 BJB Sanaghagara ‐ Thakurdihi Thakurdihi, Talakaipur, Uparkaipur, Gaudachampei

9 BJB Bayakumutua ‐ Gandijoda Bayakumutia, Gandijoda, Gandhamardan

10 Ghatgaon Asanabahali to Patabari sal forest

Asanabahali, Patabari, Deobandha,Purumunda,

11 Ghatgaon Asanabahali Village boundary

12 Ghatgaon Patabari Village boundary

13 Ghatgaon Deobandh ‐ PatabariAsanabahali, Patabari, Deobandha,Purumunda, Adakata and Rasapada14 Ghatgaon Patabari – Asanabahali sal forest

15 Champua Nungudia ‐ Kaliapal Nungudia, Dhanurjaypur, Kaliapal

Basudevpur to Naranpur elephant proof trench mapped by taking the GCPs, Keonjhar

Jamunalia to Bhaliadihi Electric Fencing bordering a Forest area in Keonjhar

Vast Paddy Field

Bhaliadihi Village

Villa

geJa

mun

alia

J

Intensity of Affected villages of Keonjhar Forest Division

CAUSES OF INEFFICIENCY OF ELEPHANT PROOF MEASURES

Lack of regular monitoring of the elephant proof measures.Some villagers made their way through the stone walls by Some villagers made their way through the stone walls by lowering the height or filling the trenches, through which elephants felt ease to cross through.Electric fences were not regularly monitored.Forceful elephant driving caused the elephants to enter into the elephant proof measures instead of returning to the forest. Electric fences were not being electrically charged at right time. Comm nit participation in maintaining the elephant proof Community participation in maintaining the elephant proof measures was not satisfactory.

Villagers in an elephant- riving operation

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

From the above study it was concluded that out of these 15 l 4 ill b h 15 measures only 4 measures will be somewhat efficient in mitigating the measure in 14 villages and the efficiency need to taken care of.Only constructing elephant proof measures are not sufficient to mitigate HEC. It is necessary to maintain the appropriate criteria It is necessary to maintain the appropriate criteria during construction of different measures and periodic maintenance.Community participation in maintaining the elephant Community participation in maintaining the elephant proof measures are equally important for increasing the effectiveness of these measures.

ACKNOWLLEDGEMENTACKNOWLLEDGEMENT

We are thankful to Orissa Forest Department for pgiving permission to work in the study area and accommodation of research scholars. We thank Rio-Tinto for financial support. Special thanks to Dr. L.A.K. Singh, Senior Research Offi O i F D (WL) f hi Officer, Orissa Forest Department (WL) for his valuable guidance during the study. Authors also thanks UGC for financial support Authors also thanks UGC for financial support through DRS II to the P.G. Department of Zoology, Utkal University.Utkal University.

REFERENCES

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