Updated: December 12, 2020 5:20:36 pm
A Gaur Indian, who was seen at the Mahatma Society, was rescued after three hours of efforts by forest department officials on Wednesday. He later died of alleged exhaustion. (Express photo by Ashish Kale)
The images of an Indian bison, or Gaur, in the urban landscape of Pune, the frenzy among the people, the capture of the wounded animal that ran in panic and the sad news of his death has put the spotlight on the human-Gaur conflict in the country. Sushant Kulkarni looks at the extent of this human-animal conflict in Maharashtra, especially the Western Ghats, the standard operating procedure for dealing with such a scenario, and what more needs to be done about it.
What happened in the Kothrud area of Pune?
A male Gaur, also known as an Indian bison, aged three to four years old, was seen in the Mahatma Society residential area in the Kothrud area of Pune on Wednesday morning.
Officials from the Forest Department were informed by local residents and later the police, Municipal Corporation personnel and the Fire Department came to the area. After initial attempts by forest department staff to reassure him, the Gaur ran to an adjacent town, where he had to confront a rebellious crowd, which, according to forest officials, increased his panic. After running in panic for more than 3 km, the animal was tranquilized with a dart and captured.
But he died after being taken to a traffic treatment center. The primary autopsy report suggests the animal suffered from respiratory failure leading to cardiovascular failure, shock and death, possibly due to exhaustion and stress.
Authorities said Gaur may have ventured into the city from the adjacent Mulshi and Tamhini forest areas. Authorities said that on rare occasions in the past, Gaurs have traveled long distances from the forests in Mahabaleshwar in Satara through connecting corridors to enter forest areas adjoining the city of Pune.
Conflicts between humans and Gaur in Maharashtra
The Indian bison, found mainly in South and Southeast Asia, has been listed as “vulnerable” since 1986 on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
A male Gaur, also known as an Indian bison, aged three to four, was seen in the Mahatma Society residential area in the Kothrud area of Pune. (Express Photo by Ashish Kale)
In India, the Gaur is mainly found in the Western Ghats, the forests of central India, and the forest patches in the northeast. In Maharashtra, a Gaur is mainly found in the Sahyadri ranges and also in the forest areas adjoining Madhya Pradesh. 📣 Follow Express explained on Telegram
Nitin Kakodkar, Maharashtra’s chief chief conservator of forests (wildlife), said: “In terms of conflict between humans and Gaur, incidents like the one in Pune are extremely rare. But yes, there are conflict situations in agricultural parcels such as sugar cane fields. Gaurs are shy by nature and avoid confrontation, unless provoked. Human casualties have been reported, but they are rare. There have been three human deaths in conflicts between humans and Gaur since 2018 in Maharashtra, one in 2018 and two in 2020. All of them have taken place in forest areas in the Kolhapur region, where there is a significant population of the animal. But cases of damage to crops by gaurs are common and often reported in places adjacent to forest areas where gaurs are present. There is a mechanism to compensate farmers after damage to crops by wild animals such as elephants, chital, sambar deer or antelope, and there is a similar mechanism for damage to crops by Gaurs. “
Forest department officials said current compensation rates have been carried over from 2015 and a proposal to review and increase these compensation amounts is under consideration.
Cases of conflicts between humans and Gaur, resulting in human casualties, have been reported in greater numbers in the southern Indian states of the Western Ghat region, and also in central and northeast India.
There are several reasons for the increase in these conflicts over the years, including the retreat of forest covers and the expansion of human dwellings, frequent forest fires, changing cropping patterns, the disappearance of grazing lands , water shortages, etc. When conflict situations arise, panic and curiosity among people hamper mitigation efforts.
Standard operating procedure for conflicts between humans and Gaur
Following a growing number of cases of human-Gaur conflict in the Western Ghats, the Maharashtra Chief Conservator of Forests office developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in 2015 to handle these situations, following deliberations by a committee formed for this. purpose.
Aamhala maaf kar. Aamhi tujhe gunhegaar. (Please forgive us. We have sinned.) A message reads under a garland image of a Gaur outside a shop in Pune. Below is a replica of the animal that died after getting lost in the Kothrud area on Wednesday morning. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)
The SOP document lists various reasons for conflicts between humans and Gaur, and also the actions that various stakeholders, including local residents, civic bodies, and joint forest management committees, should take in these situations before department officials forester and police arrive at the scene. The SOP document has very clear instructions on crowd control, precautions for media personnel, and ensuring that messages on social media do not cause panic.
The SOP also has step-by-step instructions on tranquilizing, loading and transporting the heavy animal, which can weigh between 600 and 1000 kg. A full section of the SOP document is devoted to steps to avoid human casualties in human-animal conflict situations.
Forest department officials said that in Wednesday’s incident, although luckily there were no casualties among the people, there were many incidents that could have resulted in serious injury or worse.
Officials say standard operating procedures need to be adjusted regularly, based on changing scenarios, and new lessons learned from conflict cases.
‘Lessons to be learned from the Pune Gaur incident’
Speaking about the tragic incident in Pune, Kakodkar said: “Certainly, there are some lessons we must learn from the incident in Pune. I have asked all the officers involved to take stock of the situation and look back at the incident to see what could have been done better, what else can be done in terms of training and equipment etc and where we are at falling short. While these conflicts in urban areas are rare, it is important that we are prepared for them to ensure that situations in both urban and rural settings are resolved in the best possible way. For example, having uniform jackets for everyone involved in the rescue operation, having a public address system, etc. it could have been a great help. “
Dr Ben V Clement, Chief Conservator of Forests for the Kolhapur Region, said: “While there is an SOP in place, there is certainly scope for us to review it. Efforts are underway on several fronts to address the human-Gaur conflict, one of which is a proposal to increase compensation for damage to crops. The forest department is also in the process of deploying more veterinary officers to better handle these situations.
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