BANGALORE: At a time when the state records have the highest number of tigers and elephants in the country, preventing the death of young elephants, leopards and tackling man-animal conflict have a major hurdle for the Forest Department.According to the statistics obtained from the Forest Department, 40 elephant, 28 leopards, five tigers, 33 deers, 15 bears, 17 bisons and 16 sambars have died from January till date. In 2010, there were 112 elephant and six tigers deaths.As the world celebrates the 57th World Wildlife Week, speaking to The New Indian Express, an official of the Forest Department said, “Though the number of elephants has been stable over the years but most of the deaths are unnatural and this has been a serious cause of concern.” Of the 40 elephants, seven(about 20 per cent) were very young - hardly five-six months old, four deaths were due to electrocution and one due to gunshot. “These young elephants are not used to too much of walking. Some of them tumble and break their legs and get wounded. Most of them suffer from septicaemia and do not survive for long. This apart, the increasing man-animal conflict especially with elephants in Hassan and Mandya has been worrying us. Starting from January, there have been 12 human deaths caused during the conflict and 10 are caused by elephants,” said the official. Meanwhile, leopards have been bothering the department. He said, “Since leopards reside mainly in the periphery of forests and depend on cattle and dogs, leopards are coming towards human habitat and are falling prey to un-natural deaths.”“From January 2011 till date, we have already paid a compensation of `4 crore as crop compensation and for families of the deceased,” he added.Out of 180 species of mammals found in the country, 120 species are found in Karnataka and 90 per cent of these species are found in protected areas. Major among them are tiger, elephant, leopards, wild dogs, spotted deer, sambars, wolves, hyenas including bats.Out of 42 tiger reserves in the country, six of them are in Karnataka with a total population of 320. According to the Tiger Census in 2010 released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the country has a total of 1,713 tigers.However, even with several deaths, the tiger and elephant population seems to show a growth rate of two per cent on an average annually.NOTE: World Wildlife Week is celebrated every year in the first week of October.
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