Karnataka: ‘Fence of honeybees’ round village curbs elephant-human battle, to be replicated in different states
Extra states in India are more likely to set up fences of honeybees in spaces liable to human-elephant battle, after a pilot initiative in Karnataka’s Kodagu used to be discovered to achieve success previously month.
Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Nitin Gadkari hailed the initiative Thursday. “It has equipped reduction to farmers, and is saving vegetation and treasured lives. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are primary elephant–human battle zones the place KVIC is making plans to put in force Venture RE-HAB in a phased way,” he tweeted with a video of the initiative.
Congratulating @kvicindia for imposing cutting edge method to scale back elephant-human interplay with Venture RE-HAB.
The bees worsen the elephant and deter them. Through hanging up bee packing containers at the outer edge of forests, they have got decreased elephant motion in human territory. pic.twitter.com/DaiMK1gSFU
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) April 8, 2021
Underneath Venture RE-HAB (Decreasing Elephant – Human Assaults the use of Bees), introduced in Karnataka final month through Khadi and Village Industries Fee (KVIC), packing containers with bees have been positioned at more than a few places close to Chelur village in Karnataka’s Kodagu. Officers had was hoping that the humming of the bees would confuse and frighten the elephants, making them flip away. The overall value of the pilot mission used to be estimated to be round Rs 15 lakh.
Now that it’s to be taken to different states, KVIC officers stated Gadkari had “emphasized the participation of the Agriculture ministry and the Atmosphere and Woodland ministry for the efficient implementation of the mission.”
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena stated, “The initiative can scale back human-elephant conflicts, building up farmers’ source of revenue via beekeeping, and doubtlessly cope with local weather trade, regenerate wooded area duvet and make sure meals safety for wild animals of their herbal habitats.”
In line with knowledge issued through KVIC from 4 places at the outer edge of Nagarhole Nationwide Park in Karnataka, elephant motion used to be detected within the house a number of occasions within the final fortnight of March.
“On the other hand, a variety of elephants have been noticed returning to the jungles fearing honey bees. Additionally, no destruction of vegetation or homes through elephants has been reported in those spaces since those bee packing containers have been saved at the passageways of elephants,” Saxena stated.
Additional, with the assistance of night-vision cameras, officers stated they have got captured key photos of elephants’ behaviour on seeing the bee-boxes, which may also be really helpful for the growth of the mission.
Maximum human fatalities because of human-elephant battle, consistent with KVIC, came about in West Bengal (403), Orissa (397), Jharkhand (349), Assam (332), and Chhattisgarh (289) between 2014 and 2019.
Saxena stated state governments dig up trenches, erect rail-fencing and spiked pillars, set up electrical fences and electrical cord curtains to stay elephants clear of human territories. “Whilst those efforts fail to succeed in the aim, additionally they finally end up killing elephants in probably the most tragic techniques,” he highlighted.
Owing to the luck of the pilot, extra farmers, together with espresso planters in and round Kodagu, have approached KVIC with a request to put in such fences in additional spaces.
“Farmers within the house weren’t mindful that this kind of method would paintings smartly to start with. On the other hand, with the surprising dip within the frequency of elephants getting into the realm, this initiative has grow to be the debate of the city. We’re in a position to proportion the science in the back of this with extra folks to lend a hand them increase this on their very own as smartly,” Banglu Venugopal, KVIC Nodal Officer in Madikeri, advised Indianexpress.com.
