TIRUPATI: A rise in the death toll of tuskers has been reported in combined Chittoor district in the last one month. This has raised a major concern for the forest department as they have been putting concerted efforts to revive the jumbo population in this district that borders three states.
On Aug 25, forest department officials found the carcass of a six-year-old tusker near the Talakona forests in Yerravaripalem in Tirupati district. An investigation is underway to identify the reason for the jumbo's death. Earlier, another tusker died in the same forest after reportedly biting off a country bomb.
The Seshachalam forests in Tirupati and the Koundinya reserve forests bordering Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu are major habitats for Asiatic elephants in AP. A recent elephant census by the forest department had identified the tusker population in Chittoor to be somewhere between 90 and 110. Meanwhile, the district witnesses an annual migration of an equal number of tuskers from the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
However, due to the human-animal conflicts on the rise across Chittoor district and encroachment of forest lands, at least 46 tuskers have been reported dead in various incidents in the district since 2010.
Deputy chief minister and state environment and forests minister Pawan Kalyan, during his recent coordination meeting with the Karnataka govt, stressed on the need for both state govts to put in concerted efforts to address the rise in man-animal (tusker) conflict. Following this, officials are now focusing on long-term measures to protect and revive elephant population in Chittoor.
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