JOIN USUnruly crowd cause for man-animal conflict: Ajai Misra
Director of Project Elephant, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF), Ajai Misra on Sunday blamed unruly mob for the increase in man-animal conflict.
Speaking at the opening of Zoo Youth Club activities for the year 2013, Misra recalled a gory incident of two jumbos straying into the city two years back in the month of June, that claimed a life, leaving four persons injured.
Misra said, it was the unruly crowd that teased the pachyderm and also stoned the animal, besides camera flash from lensmen that actually provoked one of the jumbos to go amuck, resulting in the tragedy. “We (people) reacted in a negative way”, said Misra substantiating his words. Had we left the animals for themselves, they would have gone on their own. Whenever there is a man-animal conflict, it is blown out of proportion, while the numerous conflicts between man and man goes unnoticed at times.
Beginning with his assertion that ‘conservation is a complex issue’, Misra said, it is due to the people again, who are averse to learning a lot of good things in life.
“As a result, elephant population has dwindled from one lakh 66 years ago, in the year 1947, to just 25,000 across the nation. In Karnataka alone, the elephant population is estimated at 6,000 with the numbers varying at times,” he informed.
Misra advised the students, who have enrolled for the youth club, to make judicious use of the opportunity to peek into wildlife and be a part of the conservation process.
Former athlete Ashwini Nachappa exhorted the Zoo authorities to extend youth club activities to outside the city too. In her appeal to the parents of the children participating in the activities, Ashwini said: “They should encourage their wards to be a part of conservation activities, that is termed as vital in the current days.”
Zoo Executive Director B P Ravi said, imparting education on conservation should start from field to lab.
Crocodile breeding at Karanji lake
Mysore,dhns: Karanji Lake Nature Park, adjacent to the Mysore Zoo, on Hotel Lalitha Mahal Palace road has turned into a safe haven for crocodile breeding.
Disclosing this here on Sunday, Zoo Executive Director B P Ravi said, “Recently, breeding activities began with a crocodile that was spotted on the road between the lake and zoo in the month of February”. It is the month (February) of breeding for crocodiles and that was the reason it had strayed out of water in search of a safer place. Following the incident, arrangements had been made to put more sand on the lake bund to facilitate the crocodile to lay eggs, and the crocodile was released into the water again. Recently, during a visit to the lake, six to seven young crocodiles were spotted. If the numbers increase further, arrangements will be made to shift them to other places, Ravi added.