The Karnataka government has been urged by the Centre for Research on Animal Rights (CRAR) and the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) to put a comprehensive plan of action in place to reduce human-elephant conflicts in place of the wild elephants being captured under Operation Jumbo. The request was made in response to reports of multiple elephant deaths—including the well-known Arjuna—during Operation Jumbo's capture of wild elephants.
This action also follows the Karnataka Forest Department's decision to resume a new round of captures a few days after ceasing operations in the wake of Arjuna's passing. To address the disputes between humans and elephants, the department has taken 40–50 wild elephants from the Hassan-Kodagu region. The establishment of guidelines to govern the exceptional power under Section 11 of the Wild Life Protection Amendment Act, 2022, and the issuance of capture orders to alleviate disputes under Section 11 only in exceptional circumstances are the three main demands that the groups have made to the government.
Additionally, the groups have insisted that an expert board made up of attorneys, ecologists, biologists, forest authorities, and representatives of civil society be given the authority outlined in Section 11. Equal protection for non-human and human interests has been demanded by the group. According to the groups, the committee has to suggest innovative strategies for resolving the dispute, such as doing away with the zonal boundaries that define what areas elephants can and cannot be on and instead recommending permanent coexistence.
“The use of capture is more a sensationalist smokescreen to appease the general public, and in effect, does not ensure peaceful coexistence. Commercial encroachments of forest lands, especially elephant corridors, are the main drivers of human-elephant conflict. Elephant reserves must be recognised as legally protected areas, like tiger reserves. Even after 10 years since the 2013 High Court order, the government has failed to declare notified forest areas within elephant corridors as reserve forests under Section 17 of the Karnataka Forest Act,” Bharati Ramachandran, CEO of the FIAPO, said. Furthermore, the groups have asked that the government create best practices for reducing conflicts between people and elephants in Karnataka by taking a cue from neighboring states like Tamil Nadu, which have abandoned the idea of capturing elephants for captivity. They have recommended looking into the early message warning system, thermal drone, and radio-collaring success stories from Valparai and Gudalur, among other ways.
