When a herd of four elephants closed in on H.D. Kote town, people milling around and creating a ruckus near the elephants posed more problems to the Forest Department personnel than the wild herd.
The public, who were whistling, screaming and venturing too close to the elephants, hampered efforts by Forest officials to drive the herd back to the wild as the elephants stayed put in thickets or sugarcane fields .
Deputy Conservator of Forests V. Karikalan said controlling the crowd frittered away their energy, more than efforts to nudge the elephants back into the wild.
“While we burst crackers to drive the elephants to a particular direction so as to push them to the forests, the presence of a hysterical crowd at the other end scares the elephants which panic and either run helter skelter or refuse to move,” said Mr. Karikalan.
The problem is compounded if the herd splits, as separated elephants go berserk trying to unite with the herd, he added. The local residents crowding around the site hampered operations near Antharsanthe on Monday, as a result of which the elephants stayed put in the safety of the sugarcane fields or coconut plantations .
“Sensitising the public about wildlife behaviour and as to how they should respond in a given situation will help reduce conflict,” said D. Rajkumar, wildlife activist.
Public behaviour bordering on hysteria is not only true in urban areas but even on forest fringes where people have been living with elephants for ages and sighting them is common. Mr. Karikalan said people of H.D. Kote cooperated and did not pose a problem but at Antharsanthe they had a tough time in crowd control.
The role of the rapid response team is important in moulding public behaviour, according to wildlife activists. There are 44 Eco Development Committees around Bandipur and the need of the hour was to sensitise public about wildlife behaviour through these committee members, say the activists.