Kerala CM to hold meeting on man-animal conflict on March 14: Saseendran

March 13, 2024 11:43 pm | Updated 11:43 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has convened an urgent meeting on March 14 to discuss the issue of the increasing incidents of human-animal conflict in the State, Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has said.

Mr. Saseendran said on Wednesday that wild animals, including elephants, could not be stopped from coming out of the forests by implementing only the current preventive measures. “We also need to take steps to keep the animals inside the forests in tune with the changes in human settlements,” he told reporters.

The Minister said that in the meeting to be held on Thursday, he expected that directions would be issued to explore measures to ensure that wild animals stayed inside forests. His statement came in response to reporters’ queries on unconfirmed reports of elephants entering inhabited areas in Munnar on Wednesday morning.

When asked about an elephant found in a weak condition in the Athirappilly area of Thrissur district since Tuesday, the Minister said that a team of veterinarians from Kodanand in Ernakulam district had reached the spot. “They will examine the elephant and based on their findings, further course of action would be taken. The elephant is in a weak condition and it may not be possible to tranquilise it for providing treatment.”

“However, the elephant requires treatment. We are leaving the issue to the judgement of the doctors and experts. Directions have been issued to the forest officials to ensure all steps to save its life,” Mr. Saseendran said.