File picture for illustration.
| Photo Credit: Ok.Ok. Mustafah
GUWAHATI
Efforts to maintain wild elephants off human settlements in Assam are driving on a flash of hope – light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs blinking to a rhythmic sample.
Five solar-powered LEDs, every 250 metres aside, had been put in at 5 totally different areas within the Nayapara and Hastinapur areas of western Assam’s Baksa district on October 14 to forestall elephants from foraging crop fields and getting near human settlements.
Members of Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation organisation, surveyed the world to know the elephant actions and establish the strategic areas for putting in the 2-watt LED bulbs.
“These LED bulbs illuminate a particular area in a rhythmic sequence, blinking continuously in the darkness around. The movement of elephants around human settlements can be restricted as the trunked animals are known to avoid these lights,” Anjan Barua of Aaranyak’s Human Elephant Coexistence Initiative mentioned.
“Through this initiative, some 1,500 households are expected to be benefitted,” he mentioned.
Installing LED bulbs is without doubt one of the three methods being employed in Assam to mitigate human-elephant battle (HEC) and facilitate coexistence within the Baksa and Tamulpur districts. The initiatives have been supported by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the SBI Foundation.
Alternative crops
On October 6, Aaranyak motivated about 40 farmers of Sesapani village in Tamulpur district to shift from standard paddy to commercially viable crops that wild elephants discover much less palatable. Some of those various crops could be used as bio-fences to discourage elephant herds in addition to supplementing the earnings of HEC-affected folks, specialists on elephant behaviour mentioned. “Crops such as Assam lemon, ginger, turmeric, and mustard are less likely to be foraged by elephants. These crops also command good prices in the market,” Bhanita Baruah, the agriculture growth officer of Tamulpur district’s Kumarikata Circle mentioned.
“Our focus is also on sensitising the farmers about the importance of crop quality and variety, seed treatment, land preparation, nutrient management, sowing methods, disease control, and the economic advantages associated with these crops,” she mentioned.
A complete of 100 kg of mustard seeds had been distributed amongst 35 farmers of Sesapani and 6 different villages within the adjoining Udalguri district who had been eager on cultivating it to maintain elephants away.
Watch towers
The third initiative has been the development of six everlasting watchtowers in HEC-affected areas of the Baksa district to facilitate neighborhood crop guarding for elevating an alarm when elephants strategy paddy fields.
“Community crop-guarding has been found to be effective and has been tried and tested in other areas of the landscape,” Mr. Barua mentioned.
Assam is dwelling to greater than 5,700 elephants, the second-highest after Karnataka. According to information supplied within the 126-member State Assembly in March, HECs kill a mean of 70 folks and 80 elephants yearly.
The information additionally revealed that 1,300 elephants died between 2001 and 2022. While 509 of those died of pure causes, 261 succumbed to unknown causes, 202 had been electrocuted, 102 died in practice accidents, 65 resulting from poisoning, 40 had been poached, and 18 died in a bolt of lightning.