Minister for Forest Ecology and Environment Eshwar B. Khandre will meet his counterpart from Kerala and senior officials from Tamil Nadu at Bandipur on Sunday, March 10, to discuss the increase in human-wildlife conflict in the region.
A release said Mr. Khandre will be joined by his counterpart from Kerala A.K. Saseendran besides senior Forest Department officials from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The meeting will discuss issues related to better coordination for forest protection, curbing poaching, and preventing encroachment besides sharing information on the movement and migration patterns of animals.
The expected outcome is harnessing technology and communication systems for better coordination. The trigger for the meeting is the recent death of a person in Kerala by an elephant that was captured in Belur in Karnataka, radio-collared, and subsequently released back into the wild. But the elephant which was released in Moolehole entered the Wayanad region where it was embroiled in a conflict situation and the resultant death of an individual. The meeting is expected to result in greater coordination between the Forest Department of the three states leading to reduction of human wildlife conflict, in future.
The senior officials who will take part in Sunday’s meeting include Manjunath Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka, K.R. Jyothilal, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest Department, Kerala, Brijest Kumar Dixit, PCCF and Head of Forest Forces, his counterpart from Kerala Ganga Singh, Subhash Malkhede, PCCF (Wildlife) Karnataka Jayaprasad, Chief Wildlife Warden, Kerala and others.
