‘Encroachment causing man-animal conflict’

In the last decade, the state has seen a sharp increase in man-animal conflicts, predominantly problems relating to sloth bears. This is a direct consequence of rapid human encroachment into forest areas, noted forest officials and experts.

Participating in a workshop on mitigating man-animal conflict organised by the Wildlife SOS on Monday at the Bannerghatta National Park, they said that this often led to situations which have violent and brutal consequences for both humans and wildlife.

B K Singh, retired principal chief conservator of forests said the human-sloth bear conflict was becoming a menace in villages across Karnataka.

The members of Wildlife SOS-Bannerghatta bear rescue centre and Karnataka forest department (KFD) participated in the workshop.

The workshop focused on the sloth bears and elephant population in Karnataka.

Wildlife SOS and forest officials shared specific skills and technical field expertise in the area of conflict resolution. The teams discussed factors that come into play during rescue operations, the importance of crowd control, the dangers of animals falling into wells and post-rescue treatment procedures for animals injured. They also demonstrated techniques of trapping and releasing sloth bears in distress.