Bhubaneswar: Alarmed at the rising human casualties in jumbo attacks in Odisha, the state government has urgently approached the Tamil Nadu forest department to supply four ‘Kumki’ elephants to chase away wild jumbos straying into human habitats.
‘Kumki’ is a term used in India for trained captive Asian elephants used in operations to trap wild elephants, sometimes to rescue or to provide medical treatment to an injured or trapped wild elephant.
Additional Chief Secretary of Forest, Environment, Climate Change, Satyabrata Sahu, said he wrote an urgent letter to Tamil Nadu Forest Department seeking the latter’s help. “In recent years, we have been facing significant challenges in mitigating human-elephant conflicts. Your help in getting trained Kumki elephants would greatly assist us in addressing these conflicts effectively and humanely.”
He added, “Kumki elephants can be deployed strategically to help us manage and drive wild elephants, thereby reducing damage to crops, human habitations, and the potential loss of both human and elephant lives.”
These elephants can also be deployed for forest patrolling and rescue operations. Understanding that Tamil Nadu has a successful and commendable programme in place whereby Kumki elephants are trained and utilised for wildlife conservation purposes, I would request you to provide us with four Kumki elephants for deployment in the conflict-prone areas of Odisha, it added.
These elephants will serve as an invaluable asset to our state’s wildlife organisation, aiding our efforts to minimise conflicts and safeguard both human and wildlife interests. “It is also requested that the mahouts taking care of those Kumki elephants may also be deputed along with the elephants, providing only initial handholding support to our local mahouts to get them acquainted with those ‘kumki’ elephants,” added the letter.
“In light of urgency and magnitude of the human-elephant conflict issue in Odisha, I would like to request your prompt consideration of this proposal. Your support will significantly contribute to our ongoing conservation efforts and prove instrumental in mitigating wildlife conflicts in Odisha,” it added.