Valparai News
July 10th 2022
July 11th 2022
Elephant Damage in Akkamalai Estate
Monica the elephant was happy being mellow and keeping to herself. The locals saw her as the poster girl of coexistence
Cow elephants live in herds, but Monica lived the last decade of her life as a loner in the tea-covered Valparai plateau, Tamil Nadu. A solitary existence had its advantages. She was harder to spot than being part of a herd of four-tonne animals, says researcher Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan.
Nearly two decades ago, Monica and her eight-member clan punched holes into the walls of ration shops to binge on the stored grain. Tensions were high. Tea estate personnel called her ‘Kizhinja kaadhu’ in Tamil, for the large tear in her right ear. As soon as anyone reported seeing elephants, a screaming mob arrived with tractors and firecrackers to drive them away. The panicked animals reacted by charging at their tormentors. When people fled, the giants became conditioned to rush at humans at the first opportunity, injuring and rarely even killing them. There seemed no exit out of the cycle of escalating violence. Residents demanded the elephants be captured and removed.
It’s their habitat
Moving these gigantic animals is no solution. Elephants can die while being caught. If they survive and are translocated to other areas, they can return to their original homes or make a beeline for the nearest human settlement and cause trouble there.
A team of researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation, led by M. Ananda Kumar, intervened (See The Elephant’s In The Room, November 3, 2018). Their philosophy was, that there are no problem animals, only problem situations. They recommended emptying ration shops along paths used by the pachyderms. They also advised patience and giving the right of way to the giants. Their efforts worked, leading to a tapering off of hostility between species. Since one herd hung out in an estate called Monica, the researchers named the ageing lead elephant with the torn ear after the place. From being a terror, she transformed into a docile animal.
About 10 years after the start of the project, the cow elephant got hurt. The circumstances were unknown, but the researchers speculated an ardent bull may have ripped her other ear and mouth. She separated from her herd and started living a loner’s life. With no dependent offspring and no predators, that wasn’t a problem. People watched her spray her injuries with slush and felt sorry for her. By then, her local name changed to Singari, or ‘beauty’ in Tamil.
Monica socialised with her old clan for a few days before going in her own separate way.
Monica socialised with her old clan for a few days before going in her own separate way. | Photo Credit: Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan
Monica often ate fruits growing in backyard gardens. Vijayakrishnan took a photograph of her surrounded by 30 to 40 people as she relished a ripe jackfruit. Without knowing the context, any observer would jump to the conclusion that she was a trespasser with the humans being helpless victims. But these people on a lunch break were curiously watching Singari at hers.
“She was the poster girl of coexistence,” says Vijayakrishnan, who is fascinated by these pachyderms having grown up around captive elephants and mahouts in Kozhikode, Kerala.
Cow elephants live in herds, but Monica lived the last decade of her life as a loner in the tea-covered Valparai plateau, Tamil Nadu. A solitary existence had its advantages. She was harder to spot than being part of a herd of four-tonne animals, says researcher Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan.
Nearly two decades ago, Monica and her eight-member clan punched holes into the walls of ration shops to binge on the stored grain. Tensions were high. Tea estate personnel called her ‘Kizhinja kaadhu’ in Tamil, for the large tear in her right ear. As soon as anyone reported seeing elephants, a screaming mob arrived with tractors and firecrackers to drive them away. The panicked animals reacted by charging at their tormentors. When people fled, the giants became conditioned to rush at humans at the first opportunity, injuring and rarely even killing them. There seemed no exit out of the cycle of escalating violence. Residents demanded the elephants be captured and removed.
It’s their habitat
Moving these gigantic animals is no solution. Elephants can die while being caught. If they survive and are translocated to other areas, they can return to their original homes or make a beeline for the nearest human settlement and cause trouble there.
A team of researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation, led by M. Ananda Kumar, intervened (See The Elephant’s In The Room, November 3, 2018). Their philosophy was, that there are no problem animals, only problem situations. They recommended emptying ration shops along paths used by the pachyderms. They also advised patience and giving the right of way to the giants. Their efforts worked, leading to a tapering off of hostility between species. Since one herd hung out in an estate called Monica, the researchers named the ageing lead elephant with the torn ear after the place. From being a terror, she transformed into a docile animal.
About 10 years after the start of the project, the cow elephant got hurt. The circumstances were unknown, but the researchers speculated an ardent bull may have ripped her other ear and mouth. She separated from her herd and started living a loner’s life. With no dependent offspring and no predators, that wasn’t a problem. People watched her spray her injuries with slush and felt sorry for her. By then, her local name changed to Singari, or ‘beauty’ in Tamil.
Monica socialised with her old clan for a few days before going in her own separate way.
Monica socialised with her old clan for a few days before going in her own separate way. | Photo Credit: Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan
Monica often ate fruits growing in backyard gardens. Vijayakrishnan took a photograph of her surrounded by 30 to 40 people as she relished a ripe jackfruit. Without knowing the context, any observer would jump to the conclusion that she was a trespasser with the humans being helpless victims. But these people on a lunch break were curiously watching Singari at hers.
“She was the poster girl of coexistence,” says Vijayakrishnan, who is fascinated by these pachyderms having grown up around captive elephants and mahouts in Kozhikode, Kerala.
Monica, the chilled-out Elephant of Valparai
A leopard was found dead on the premises of a tea stall at Varattuparai near Valparai on May 12 2022.
Officials with the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) said that the animal’s right foreleg trapped in a henhouse behind the tea shop run by I. Usman in a revenue land within a tea estate on Thursday morning. The area falls within the limits of Valparai forest range of ATR.
They said that the carcass of the leopard was noticed around 7 a.m. when the shop owner went to check the henhouse.
ATR Deputy Director M.G. Ganesan said the carcass did not have any external injury. Its teeth and claws were intact.
“We suspect that the animal could have died of shock after getting its foreleg stuck in the mesh of the henhouse while trying to catch chicken,” he said and added that the actual cause of death could be ascertained after the post-mortem.
Arrangements were made for the autopsy of the carcass as per the protocols of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Officials with the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) said that the animal’s right foreleg trapped in a henhouse behind the tea shop run by I. Usman in a revenue land within a tea estate on Thursday morning. The area falls within the limits of Valparai forest range of ATR.
They said that the carcass of the leopard was noticed around 7 a.m. when the shop owner went to check the henhouse.
ATR Deputy Director M.G. Ganesan said the carcass did not have any external injury. Its teeth and claws were intact.
“We suspect that the animal could have died of shock after getting its foreleg stuck in the mesh of the henhouse while trying to catch chicken,” he said and added that the actual cause of death could be ascertained after the post-mortem.
Arrangements were made for the autopsy of the carcass as per the protocols of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
A leopard was found dead near Valparai
A delegation of nearly 15 persons, including office-bearers of the Valparai Merchants Federation and various other associations, on Wednesday left for Chennai to urge officials to exclude Valparai from the core and buffer areas of Anamalai Tiger Reserve. A. Jebaraj, president of the federation, said that traditionally Valparai had been a land of plantations providing livelihood to thousands of workers from backward and suppressed communities. It houses a number of reservoirs and hydrel power stations. In addition, there are a number of places of worship frequented by devotees for hundreds of years.
Exclusion of Valparai from core, buffer areas of tiger reserve sought
Tribes of the Anamalais
The Western Ghats hill range of India, recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot, also contains impressive cultural diversity including a number of tribal communities. This study uses past records and primary field research to describe aspects of ethnic identity, social change, demography, livelihoods, and resource use among three tribal communities in the Anamalai hills along the Western Ghats mountains of southern India. Kadar, Muthuvar, and Malai Malasar communities across 190 households in 8 settlements located adjacent to rainforests in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary were studied to examine current modes of existence
for more details
Townload here
Thanks to NCF
for more details
Townload here
Thanks to NCF