Govt comes up with ways to counter man-animal conflict

According to DFO Akshay Kumar Patnaik of Chandaka Wildlife Division, the book aims at transmitting the information to the common people about how to deal with a rogue jumbo.

The book is being distributed by the help of school students, forest safety committee and environment development committee.

“The primary aim behind the publication of the book is to transmit information to the common people as to how they ought to deal with the wild animal while coming across it accidentally. This apart the book also informs about the dos and don’ts while encountering the jumbo. The information in the book can be communicated to others by the students after it is distributed among them,” Chandaka DFO Akshya Kumar Patnaik said.

Dos:-

1.    Give way to the jumbo during an encounter.
2.    While coming across the tusker in a hilly area run immediately towards the gradient of the hill.
3.    If the jumbo attacks, throw your clothes at the elephant to keep it engaged for some time that would help you escape from the tusker.

Don’ts:-

1.    Do not irritate the elephant or throw stones at it.
2.    Avoid any sort of congregation near the jumbo and abstain from activities which provoke the animal.
3.    Do not assemble near the elephant individually or in a group.
4.    Do not venture in to forest habitation after evening hours in an intoxicated state.

Moreover, common people and forest officials are also being trained as per the instructions mentioned in the book.

“After going through the book people can become aware about how to tackle a jumbo coming across it suddenly,” Kumar Nayak, President of Bhagabatipur Environment Development Committee said.

“We used to treat the elephant as god and paid respect it a lot. But after going through the book he become more conscious about them,” Janaki Behera, Member of Bhagabatipur Village Forest Committee said.