Forest and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed forest officials to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent man-animal conflict in the State.
Mr. Khandre, who chaired a meeting with senior officials of the Forest Department on Thursday, expressed concern over the increase in man-animal conflict. He asked officials to come up with a comprehensive plan which also involves use of innovative technology to address the problem.
The direction comes in the wake of repeated sightings of leopards in residential areas of Bengaluru and instances of man-elephant conflict in other parts of the State that has claimed lives in places like Kodagu and Mysuru districts.
Mr. Khandre also asked the officials to study the best practices followed globally and adopt them in the State.
Elephant population
“There are 6,395 elephants in the State and we are proud that Karnataka is the number one in India as far as elephant population is concerned. However, as the number of elephants increases, forest area is not increasing, instead it is decreasing. There is a need to come up with a way to deal with this situation,” Mr. Khandre said
He said that the additional chief principal conservator of forests should visit forests where wildlife is present and inspect it at least two days in a week. He also suggested that if wild animals stray into urban areas the officers should act as nodal officers until animals return to the wild or are captured.
