Iron railings fail to deter these jumbos

Shyam SundarVattam|NT

The installation of iron railings and solar fencing have failed to prevent the straying of wild elephants into human habitats in the fringes of Nagarhole National Park.

The villagers are fed up with the entry of ‘uninvited’ guests who feed on the standing crops besides damaging banana plantations. The forest department is bombarded with heaps of complaints from villagers to keep the pachyderms away from their habitats.

The forest department, in a bid to keep the wild jumbos inside the forests, had spent over Rs 200 crore a few years ago to erect iron railing on the fringes of forests. Apart from this they spent a couple of crores on solar fencing which on a mere touch, will give a mild shock.

Initially, the jumbos did not want to experiment with the iron railing and kept away. Later, they learnt the art of crossing the railings to enter the villages. The villagers have caught on camera how elephants cross the railings by crawling under it.

With regard to solar fencing, the jumbos are so intelligent that they were seen destroying them with sticks.

The pachyderms have even filled the Elephant-Proof Trenches at many places around the national park to enter the villages. Two days ago, elephants broke the solar fencing poles and iron railing at Jargal in Veeranain Nagarhole National Park, entered the village and damaged standing crops.