Forest commandos from Chennai trained Tenkasi forest personnel on Friday to manage man-animal conflicts. The two-day session near Adavinainarkovil Dam taught staff how to rescue injured people and handle wild animals. "Now, the forest personnel are being trained by the members of an elite force," said District Forest Officer R. Rajmohan.
A team of forest commandos from Chennai trained the forest personnel on Friday on mitigating man - wild animal conflict and rescuing the animals and injured human beings from the forests.
Since the Western Ghats from Kadayam to Sivagiri in Tenkasi district is a haven for the wild animals ranging from elephant to Guar and panther to tiger, invasion of these animals into the ranches in search of food and water often leads to serious conflicts, which had even become fatal in the past.
Despite the trenches dug in the vulnerable areas along the forest boundary and the solar electric fence erected between the ranches and the forest, wild animal invasion into the fields where the farmers raise paddy, coconut, mango, lemon and vegetables, continue and the farmers suffer crop loss. Around ten farmers or farmhands have been seriously injured in the Indian gaur and bear attack in the district in the past few years.
When the invasion intensified, AI-based cameras were installed at the porous points to monitor the movement of wild animals as they cross the forest boundary to enter the fields and initiate counter measures to chase them back into the Western Ghats.
Since wild animal invasion into the ranches close to the reserve forest boundaries of the district and consequent man - animal conflict has become perpetual story, the Tenkasi Forest Division, led by District Forest Officer R. Rajmohan organised this 2-day training programme on minimising these incidents.
"Now, the forest personnel are being trained by the members of an elite force, who are experts in mitigating these conflicts and rescuing wild animals distress and the human being injured in wild animal attack," said Dr. Rajmohan.
The experts trained the forest personnel and anti-poaching watchers of Tenkasi district during the training session held in the jungles close to Adavinainarkovil Dam area in Vadakarai.
The training included safely crossing rivers and wild streams, camping inside the forest, night patrolling inside dense forest areas, rope climbing, rock climbing, firing with rifles, handling explosives, first-aid, monitoring movement of elephant, Indian gaur, bear, panther and tiger, judging the attitude of elephants by watching the earlobe movement and its look, safely retreating during unexpected encounters with wild elephants, Indian gaur and other wild animals during patrolling etc.
The participants, led by Dr. Rajmohan and Assistant Conservator of Forest Nellainayagam, were also trained in controlling and extinguishing forest fire with available resources.
"This session has given new outlook to our personnel in handling emergency situations inside and along the forest boundary. Since we frequently experience wild elephant invasion into the ranches, monitoring elephant movement, giving warning to the public, sending the elephants safely back into the forest, handling of equipments while rescuing injured wild animals and human beings and shifting them for treatment, forest fire control, evacuation, rapid sharing of information and coordination etc. The training has given new dimension to our personnel's approach in their day-to-day functioning," said Dr. Rajmohan.