‘Scientific study on potential elephant corridors under way to arrive at final count’

Minister for Forests K. Ponmudy on Friday said ₹5 crore had been allocated for a 10-kilometre elephant-proof fence at Thondamuthur in Coimbatore.

The flexible steel wire fence will prevent elephants, without harming them, from entering human habitations. Participating in the Yaanai Thiruvizha, organised by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Mr. Ponmudy urged field workers to stay vigilant in identifying and resolving human-elephant conflicts.

The Minister felicitated ‘conservation heroes’ — 20 individuals and three groups from the Forest Department — who have made outstanding contributions to elephant conservation efforts. P. Senthil Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Departments of Environment, Climate Change and Forests; Srinivas R. Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force; and Rakesh Kumar Dogra, Chief Wildlife Warden; and Jose Louies, Chief Executive Officer, WTI, were present.

‘A long way to go’

Mr. Reddy said there was a long way to go before notifying elephant corridors. In 2024, a committee constituted by the State government brought out a list of 42 elephant corridors in Tamil Nadu. “We can’t call them corridors yet. Scientific process is going on to figure out which areas might become corridors in the future. There is still a lot of work to do before we can officially declare them,” he said.

In a session on elephants and governance, experts spoke about effectively managing elephant populations and their habitats without focusing much on the population size.

“We are using scientific methods to estimate, not [arrive at] a complete count as it’s not possible. So, it is still an estimate. That is why we are doing synchronised surveys in areas like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. By focusing on these areas together, we get more accurate numbers for migrating species. The goal is not to exaggerate the numbers, but to get realistic results from the surveys,” Mr. Reddy added.