PCCF visits Kodagu, instructs officials to use tech to prevent human-elephant conflict

Madikeri: Amid rising human-elephant conflicts in Kodagu, State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Kumar Pushkar visited affected villages and held discussions with forest officials and farmers. He reviewed conflict-prone areas and directed officials to accelerate the use of technology to manage elephant movement.Speaking on the occasion, he instructed the officials to install modern technology, AI-enabled cameras, in places where wildlife was prevalent in Kodagu district. He also instructed them to install loudspeakers in places where wild elephants often came and to create a system so that elephants could move back from the sound.He said that the govt will provide grants to the district in the coming days to prevent human-elephant conflict. He instructed the officials to install radio collars for two female wild elephants to prevent human-elephant conflict. Earlier, radio collars were brought from Africa, but now he instructed the officials to install local radio collars with new technology and track the movement of elephants. The PCCF promised to take steps to appoint more staff in the district to prevent animal infestation. He also said that the forest department will take steps to control human-elephant conflict in the coming days by providing more vehicles to the forest department and forming various teams. He ordered the officials to register the names of farmers in places where wild elephants were prevalent and to send information to them through the forest department website to inform them about the movement of elephants.On this occasion, he visited the places where wild elephants roamed in Karadigodu, Avaregund, and Maldare, Thithimathi, which came under the Virajpet division forest area, and observed the areas where wild elephants roamed.He also visited the Madikeri forest wild division office and got information about the new technological installations, and provided information about the software. He said he would make sincere efforts to control elephant-human conflict by giving priority to precautionary measures. DCF (wildlife) Nehru was present.