BANGALORE: Illegal arms owned by some people in border villages of Mysore and Kodagu districts are posing a threat to the elephant population in the Mysore region. This came to light when the carcass of an elephant with bullet injuries was found in a village near Periyapatna recently. Investigations revealed that many villagers are owning country-made fire arms to scare away the elephants that raid farm houses and fields frequently.However, the Forest Department is not authorised to probe the matter further as it comes under the Arms Act and only the Police Department can conduct raids and book cases against those in possession of illegal fire arms. In fact, the National Parks and forests are quite safe for wild animals thanks to tight vigilance of the forest staff. However, the illegal fire arms, in possession of some villagers, is the biggest worry.The people living in the border villages open fire from the fire arms to drive away the pachyderms. As they fire from a close range, the pellets, sometimes, get embedded into the thick skin of the elephants and they die of infection later.Last week, two elephants were found dead under mysterious circumstances near Muddenahalli in Hunsur Division of Nagarhole National Park. There were reports that both the carcasses reportedly had bullet injuries. Though, it was not visible for the naked eye for the doctors who conducted postmortem, the forest officials have asked the former to send viscera to laboratory to ascertain the cause of death. However, the forest officials observed that if the poachers had shot dead the jumbos, then they would have definitely carried the ivory. But the tusks were intact on one of the elephants which is said to have been killed by poachers. Usually, the poachers kill the elephants for its tusks and the tigers for its pelt. The number of poaching incidents has definitely come down in the last few years. Deaths due to unnatural reason like the electrocution have increased.Chief Conservator of Forests (Project Elephant) Ajay Mishra told Express that the presence of illegal fire arms in villages on Mysore and Kodagu district is indeed a “dangerous” trend and this issue needs to be addressed with priority. The elephants, in search of food and foliage, raid villages only to suffer bullet injuries. If the pellets enter the elephant body, the whole area gets infected, develops puss and then it dies. The police stations in these areas are having the list of only licensed gun holders as the latter have to renew the license periodically. But tracing illegal fire arms is quite difficult as they are concealed. The Forest Department will come to know about the use of fire arms only after seeing the bullet injuries on the elephant carcass.Mishra said the department has been time and again requesting the Police Department to conduct surprise checks and seize all illegal arms. The villagers purchase the country-made fire arms illegally and use them only when the elephants raid the crops. “We will again request the police to detect illegal arms from the villagers,” he added.
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