Days after reducing the number of safaris at Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves, citing increased man-animal conflict, Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre Sunday warned that safaris will be suspended completely if the conflict is not brought under control.
Speaking at a coordination meeting of forest, revenue, and police officials at the Chamarajanagar Zilla Panchayat auditorium, the minister said that staff shortage cannot be an excuse for the increase in man-animal conflict in districts where the reserve forests are located. “If there aren’t enough personnel to manage conflict-prone areas, then staff deployed for safari duties must be reassigned,” he said.
Highlighting the increase in elephant and tiger populations in the state, the minister said that expanding forest areas was not feasible. Instead, adequate food sources for wildlife within existing habitats should be ensured, he added.
On the recent incident of tiger-mauling in which a man was killed at Saragur, Mysuru district, Khandre criticised the decision to send the body to Mysuru for post-mortem instead of conducting it locally. He urged officials to act with sensitivity and efficiency, ensuring that families receive the deceased’s body without unnecessary delay.
“No one should lose their life due to human-wildlife conflict. If such a tragedy occurs, the district administration, police, forest, and health departments must act responsibly and remain present until the funeral to maintain order,” he said.
An action plan was announced at the coordination meeting to address growing incidents of man-animal conflict. This included identifying conflict-prone areas and documenting the nature of problems, deploying staff based on the severity of conflict by drawing personnel from nearby ranges if necessary and increasing patrolling, equipping vehicles with GPS, and maintaining patrol registers in border villages.
Regular visit by officials to conflict-affected villages, involving local communities by designating youth and elders as ‘Forest Friends’ to assist in patrolling and wildlife operations, ensuring 24×7 availability of vehicles and staff in villages near wildlife corridors, conducting awareness programs and mock drills for villagers, youth, and children on how to respond to wildlife encounters and establishing coordination committees at district and taluk levels to ensure inter-departmental cooperation, with regular meetings to monitor progress, are part of the action plan.