Hearing a suo motu petition over the issue, the division bench of Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna directed the governments to constitute the force, comprising experts from various fields, including the forest, environment and also scientists and to specify short-term and long-term steps to prevent elephant deaths. While hearing this petition in November last, the court had said permission for translocation cannot be granted unless experts' opinion is got. It also directed the Centre to seek advice of conservation experts of Africa or any other country. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden B K Singh had then stated the main reason for man-animal conflict in the state was 'island fencing' of coffee estates in Kodagu, loss of forest area and indiscriminate eco-tourism. He had said that thick growth of weeds like parthenium, lantana and eupatorium in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in Karnataka created food scarcity for pachyderms in forests. He had also referred to mushrooming resorts and farms on the Kaniyanpura Elephant Corridor and sought directions to remove fences around large private farms for uninterrupted elephant movement. Read the full report here.
Source: IBN Live, Bangalore.
