Beyond the coconut trees lining the paddy fields, the Western Ghats stand tall, majestic, and imposing.
The landscape of Ummani, near the Olavakkode Railway Station, provides a serene sight. We asked for directions at a house on the Ummini Schoolpadi-Pappady route.
"Which way to the house where a leopardess had given birth?" We were at Ummini to visit the house where the animal had taken shelter, an apt example of wildlife straying into and spreading terror in human habitations.
"Right here, just look behind you," pat came the response, which sent a shiver down the spine.
Looking around, we found a closed gate. We took Haneefa, a neighbour, along with us. The house was missing but for its remains.
After the cubs were taken up, the leopardess left the place, but the residents still remained in the grip of fear. The constant fear even made some scream for help on seeing street dogs in the light from the lampposts.
"The veterinarian who came to take away the cubs said it was not the first time that the leopard had delivered cubs here. There were signs indicating that it had cubs in the house earlier also. If the house and its compound remained with bushes growing wild, the animal might return. So the panchayat intervened and razed the house," panchayat member Rekha Shivadas said, pointing at the ruins of the house.
The house had been remaining closed for a long period. Vegetation had taken over its premises. A coconut plucker sensed some movement inside the house. He thought a stray dog might have delivered puppies there and went to check, and was surprised to find the cubs.
Fortunately, the adult animal was not around when he went to check the house. If it were there, it would have been a different story.
Leopards are not the only animals straying into the neighbourhood. Haneefa said a wild elephant trampled a man to death some 100 metres away. The man was on his routine morning walk.
Leopards and elephants in the area near the Dhoni forest are giving sleepless nights to the residents. Big cats taking away cattle from the nearby Papparambu locality. People have also come across rosette-coated animals strolling with cubs in the Cheekuzhi-Ummini area.
If leopard sneaks into cattle sheds, elephants prefer the paddy fields, especially when the "tasty" ears of paddy start to sprout. Their target is the ears of paddy, but in effect trample the entire field.
Tigers and leopards have killed more than 1,000 domestic animals in the hilly regions in four years. The number will further increase if those who had not applied for compensation, too, are counted.
It is more concerning that the animals killed were kept in sheds close to residential houses. The forest department's website has statistics on animals killed by wild beasts.
The unexpected protector
• Fourteen people were killed by wild elephants at Palappilly.
Latheef, the supervisor of Palappilly Estate, rushed to the plantation on hearing that a herd of elephants had closed in on rubber tappers. Two other workers, Naushad and Ajayakumar were with him. The men did not notice the calf hidden among the pillar-like legs of the herd. Latheef later said they wouldn't have attempted to chase the elephants away if they had seen the calf.
They tried to scare the herd away. Instead of fleeing, a large elephant charged at them, trumpeting with a raised trunk. The three men scattered and scrambled.
In his frantic bid to escape, Latheef tripped on a stone. He closed his eyes on seeing the elephant raising its leg. He heard it stomping, and on opening his eyes, realised that it was stomping a tree under which he had fallen.
Latheef, Naushad, and Ajaykumar escaped death, but not the trauma. Sleep evaded them for days as the vision of the elephant charging at them kept recurring. Ajaykumar was bedridden for six months with a broken leg. Latheef and Naushad could not work for two months.
Their losses were not bigger than the life they got back without getting trampled. As many as 14 people were killed by wild elephants in the Palappilly area alone. Leopards dragging away goats and dogs from houses in the area has become common. It has been estimated that the Palappilly-Chimminy forest is home to four tigers.
Crops worth Rs 100 crore lost
Studies estimate that wild animals destroy crops to the tune of at least Rs 100 crore a year in the state. According to a survey by Kerala Independent Farmers' Association, only 10 percent of farmers are applying for compensation for crops lost to wild animals.
The forest department's website revealed that the state has been disbursing Rs 10 crore on average annually as compensation to farmers affected by wild animals.
In 2017, Rs 9.6 crore was provided as compensation, while in 2018, it went up to Rs 10.18 crore. In 2019, the compensation provided was Rs 11.15 crore, and Rs 9.3 crore in 2020.
Farmers' bodies said going by the forest department statistics on compensation paid, the real crop loss would be almost Rs 100 crore annually.
Wildlife left forest as farmers ignored farmlands
(Dr E K Eswaran, Chief Veterinary Officer (Retd), Forest Department)
• Farmers, too, have played a role in attracting wild animals to farmlands. Deviating from the earlier practice, they are not clearing the undergrowth. There are also several abandoned farmlands close to the forests. Wild animals view these abandoned lands as part of the forest, and they stray into such farmlands.
• Hideouts were created for animals in human habitats during the COVID period as people stayed indoors.
• Areas left without replanting in estates and farms abutting forests look like a part of the woods. They should be cleared and used for cultivation.
• The boom in tiger population is one of the reasons for elephants straying into human habitations. Tigers try to hunt calves and elephants, in search of safer locales, deliver calves close to human presence. This explains why calves are seen with herds in human-habitated areas.
• Elephants are anthropomorphic. They prefer to be closer to human habitations.
• No attempt should be made to chase away herds with calves. The adults will launch a wild attack thinking the attempt is to capture the calf.
• There were elephant corridors connecting the Chimminy forest area with the Kurumali River. After the new plantations erected electric fences, the elephants cannot use the corridors. Instead, they take whichever route they see to access water.
Plantation blues
Dr Jose Joseph, Professor (Retd), Kerala Agricultural University
• The apathy of estate and farm authorities — both in the public and private sectors — is posing a threat to the lives of farmers and property.
• Stringent action should be initiated if any such plantations are left without farming.
• Wild animals reach ordinary farmers' farmlands through abandoned plantations. A herd of elephants destroyed 200 coconut trees of a farmer at Palappilly. He lost years of hard work.
• The workers of Palappilly Plantation tap rubber early in the mornings, and later work elsewhere for additional income. However, now they tap rubber only later in the morning for fear of elephants. Now, they cannot take up other work.
• The government has left the Aralam Farm in Kannur to elephants. The government has also rehabilitated hundreds of families there. They are at the mercy of elephants.
This is the second part of the findings of Chief Veterinary Officer (Retd) of the forest department E K Eswaran and Prof (Retd) Dr Jose Joseph, who took a study trip on Manorama's behalf to the state's hilly regions. Read first part here: Humans, animals locked in a battle for survival in Kerala's hilly regions
Tomorrow: In Arikomban's homeland
