Ooty: The Southwest monsoon season between June and September brings copious rains to the Nilgiris, but this period is traumatic for foresters and residents in the Coonoor-Burliar slopes as the menace of wild elephants increases due to the jack fruit season on this slopes.
V. Sivadass, managing trustee of the Nilgiris Environment and Socio-cultural Trust, said that the onset of the SW monsoon is nightmarish for residents in jack fruit growing areas in the Nilgiris, especially in the Coonoor-Burliar belt and to some extent on the Kotagiri slopes, as jack fruit attracts elephants.
Foresters have formed special teams to monitor the movement of wild elephants on the Coonoor-Burliar slopes and also in the Kotagiri-Kunjappannai sector to check conflicts, as elephants on the roadsides in those areas pose a great threat to motorists on the Coonoor-Burliar-Coimbatore road and also on the Kotagiri-Coimbatore road.
Meanwhile, Mr.N. Sadiq Ali, founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust, suggested bio-control measures to keep wild elephants at bay. He said that his organisation is developing a gadget to spray pepper whenever wild elephants were found to enter human settlements and fields. “The smell of pepper causes aversion to the elephant. Growing plants like tobacco and green chili, which are aversion-making plants for elephants, in the borders along forest fringes would also help”, he suggested.
