Andhra to deploy 2 kumki elephants to curb man-animal conflict near Odisha border

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan directed deployment of two trained kumki elephants in Parvathipuram Manyam district to address rising human-elephant conflicts along the Odisha border. The Forest Department will use them with technology-based measures, fencing and response teams for mitigation

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has directed the Forest Department to deploy two trained ‘kumki’ elephants in Parvathipuram Manyam district to help mitigate the growing man-elephant conflict along the Odisha border.

The Forest Department has finalised arrangements to shift the elephants from the Musalamadugu Camp at Palamaner to the Guchchimi Camp in Parvathipuram Manyam district.

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“The two trained kumki elephants available in Andhra Pradesh should be deployed in Parvathipuram Manyam district to provide long-term relief to villages affected by recurring human-elephant conflict along the Odisha border,” said Kalyan in a press release late on Tuesday.

The move is aimed at providing long-term relief to villages affected by frequent incursions of wild elephant herds from neighbouring Odisha.

The department has readied Jayant, a kumki elephant trained at the state’s Naniyal Elephant Camp, and Abhimanyu, which was brought from Karnataka, for deployment in the district.

Both elephants possess experience in managing human-elephant conflict and recently participated in six major operations, including the successful capture of a lone wild tusker near Palamaner, said the press release.

The Forest Department attributed the increasing movement of wild elephant herds into Andhra Pradesh to habitat fragmentation, shrinking forest cover and shortages of food and water.

Kalyan has also decided to hold discussions with the Odisha government on measures to drive elephant herds back across the border and explore the possibility of bringing additional kumki elephants from the neighbouring state.

The elephants will be deployed from the camp to assist forest personnel in conflict mitigation operations in villages affected by elephant movement.

The government will also implement mitigation measures, including installation of solar fencing, excavation of elephant-proof trenches, development of water sources, AI-based monitoring, drone surveillance, deployment of Hanuman Rapid Response Teams and awareness programmes in vulnerable villages, the press release added.