Forest dept. to study change in behaviour of wild elephants in Munnar

Wild tusker Padayappa rampaging a roadside shop in Munnar.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Forest Department will conduct a study to understand behavioural changes in wild elephants in the Munnar forest division.

High Range Circle Chief Conservator of Forests Arun R.S. says easy availability of food is attracting wild elephants to Munnar town.

“The salt content in food is attracting wild elephants and they are staying put here. The department has called upon the Munnar panchayat to ensure proper waste management in the hill station,” he says.

“Earlier the number of wild elephants in the Munnar Forest Division was 40, which has increased to 55 now. Elephants are reaching from Mankulam and other areas to Munnar in view of the easy availability of food. The increasing number of wild elephants in the hill station is creating problems for the department,” says another officer.

“Two one-tusked jumbos from Mankulam are camping at the waste dumping yard at Kallar near Munnar,“ he says.

“We suspect that the habit of consuming mixed food waste has changed the behaviour of wild elephants in Munnar. Normally, wild elephants move from one area to other in search of food. But in Munnar, elephants are eating the salty food waste and camping there,” he says.

“The department is in mission mode to address human-animal conflict in the State. Understanding the change in behaviour of wild elephants is part of the mission. So studying the issue in Munnar is important,” he says.

Environmentalist M.N. Jayachandran says wild tusker Padayappa and other elephants are mostly destroying illegal roadside shops in Munnar.

“The majority of such shops hinder the movement of wild animals. Besides, waste generated in these shops is dumped on waysides, attracting wild elephants to tourist spots. Waste dumping is the major reason for the increasing human-animal conflict case in the Munnar hill station,” he says.