A Kadar tribesman was killed by an elephant in Tamil Nadu’s Anamalai Tiger Reserve, surprising many as Kadars have historically co-existed with wild elephants.
Human-elephant conflicts have increased due to habitat degradation, developmental works in forest buffer zones, and obstructions in elephant corridors.
The Tamil Nadu government formed a panel led by the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to identify elephant corridors.
The panel reassessed corridors identified by the Project Elephant Division of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and also of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Environmentalists have praised the report, which doubled the number of elephant corridors in the State.
Tamil Nadu’s elephant population is 2,961 across 26 forest divisions, according to a 2023 synchronised census in southern States.
High conflict areas include Coimbatore, Gudalur, Hosur, and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), resulting in elephant and human fatalities.
Dig Deeper: Read about innovative methods to avoid Human-Elephant conflicts in various forests of India.
