A thorough understanding of the human-animal conflicts will help solve them effectively, according to Sanjay Gubbi, member of the Karnataka Wildlife Board.

Gubbi was delivering the keynote address at a seminar on ‘Wildlife conservation and management’, organised by St Aloysius College in Mangaluru on Wednesday.

“The problem is that we are trying to address it without understanding it,” he said, adding that the conflict is different for different species of animals. The reasons for which the elephants get into conflict with human beings are different from those of leopard, or sloth bear or tigers.

First, there is a need to understand the conflicts, and then plan short-term and long-term measures. There are multiple magnitudes of things that need to be handled, he said.

Exact cause

Giving the example of an incident, he said a leopard was frequently attacking chickens in a village near Doddaballapur in Karnataka. When investigated, it was found that the improper disposal of the chicken carcasses by a poultry farm in the village was the reason for this. As the chicken carcasses were disposed of in an open area in the village, the leopard developed the habit of consuming them, and started frequenting the village in search of chicken. The proper disposal of carcasses would have avoided this conflict, he said.

When a participant pointed out the crude way of handling of wild animals by villagers and others when they enter into a human habitat, he said that one of the endeavours of the board is to handle the situation by training the front-line staff in the Forest Department. This will help them handle the situation in a more methodical manner, he said. Urging the need to be committed to the cause of wildlife conservation, Gubbi said: “It is not a T20 cricket. It is a five-day test match. Your intentions should be very clear.”

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