Telangana: Electric fences save crops but kill tigers

Hyderabad: Seven tigers are missing in the protected forests of Telangana, according to official records and one is known to have died of electrocution. Wildlife experts fear the worst for the others as deaths by electrocution and poaching increase. If the remains of the tigers are not found, it is confirmed that the tiger has been poached.

Electrocution occurs because of the frequent use of high voltage fences usually by farmers. But Aravind Soman, PETA activist, says the figures given by government departments are very shady and doubtful. 

“Electric fences have a permissibility limit of electricity to warn the animals and restrict their movement. Unofficially, people use electric fences which are directly connected to high voltage wires.”

A three-member team was appointed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority after a tiger Jai went missing in the Nagpur forests in 2016. The team suggested that electric fences should not be put up by farmers and that they should be compensated for their crop losses instead..

Pawan Sharma, a  wildlife warden, said, “Giving compensation to farmers is one part of the problem. But forest departments on the ground throughout India are understaffed, under-equipped and under-trained.” A GO has been issued in Telangana which states that farmers should be compensated for crop losses and cattle losses caused by wild animals like tigers and wild boars; however, compensation is not granted in time.

Mike Pandey, award-winning wildlife filmmaker, said, “The compensation takes a long time to reach the person. If at all it does reach, it will be 10% or 15% of the total compensation. The government should ensure that it reaches the afflicted person and not go into any other pocket.”

Tracking missing animals keeps officials on their toes and modern technology is being used for the same these days. When a wild animal which is radio collared goes missing, it is a considered a failure on the part of the forest department officials.

The limitations of radio collaring are many. The frequency can be detected after roaming around with the antenna. But the forest area is around 350 sq.km so it is impossible to detect the location if they go out of the frequency. Many poachers are intelligent enough to destroy the collar as well.

Forest officials also state that revealing the location of the animal is a threat to the animal.  

Man-animal conflict also continues to increase with more instances of wild animals entering human habitats or the other way around.

The report submitted by a three-member team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority states: ‘Presence of villages/human habitation and agricultural fields around protected areas and in corridors increases the human-wildlife conflict to an alarming level. Awareness programmes are required to educate the local farmers not to indulge in such activities (electrocution, snares).’