OOTY: Wild gaur (commonly known as bison) menace and threat has begun to creep into the town limits here again, public here want the foresters to be active round-the-clock to tackle the man-animal conflict in the backdrop of drying jungles forcing wild animals to stray out.
Although the gaur menace had been confined to forest fringes in the hills so far, now, things have begun to change for the worse as gaurs began to stray into town limits here, spreading panic among hill residents.
For the past few days the gaur menace is particularly high in Kodappamund, Stone House, and Missionary Hill areas.
It is pertinent to note that guars stray into the town limits shortly after sun set looking for fodder in the farm lands. It keeps the residents in all fear when it crosses the streets to move to other side.
Calling for immediate action to tackle this menace, Mr. G. Janardhanan, President of the Ooty Town Public Awareness Association, said everyone knows that when the jungles turn dry the animals move out in search of food. But, it is shocking to see the gaur menace is emerging in the town limits. The district administration should intervene in this issue to give instructions to the foresters to evolve mechanisms to check straying to gaur into the town area.
Echoing the same tone, Mr. Rohit Jain, former president of the Citizens’ Forum of Ooty, said many persons working in private firms return home by foot only after sunset. If something happened to them in future due to gaurs, the issue will boomerang. It is better that the foresters focus more on this to thwart the guar menace in the human habitations,” he added.
