TN government committee identifies 42 elephant corridors in state

Chennai : The Tamil Nadu government's Elephant Corridor Committee has identified 42 elephant corridors in the state.

The estimate by the committee, headed by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, V. Naganathan and comprising Forest Department officials, scientists, experts, and conservation organisations, is more than double the number of corridors identified by the Project Elephant division of the Union Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Ministry.

The Project Elephant division had, in 2023, identified 20 elephant corridors - 15 within Tamil Nadu and 5 interstate corridors between Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

The Elephant Corridor Committee has identified the 42 elephant corridors through ground validation, mapping and surveys. In its report, it also stated that human-elephant conflict has been widespread across 20 forest divisions in Tamil Nadu, with the Coimbatore, Gudalur, and Hosur forest divisions and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve experiencing intense human-elephant conflict.

Meanwhile, environmental activists in Coimbatore said the draft report points to mining by brick kiln owners as one of the major threats to two corridors that fall under the Coimbatore division.

The Melbavi-Pattisalai-Singuli-Kandivalli-Damanur-Sembukarai corridor (Anaiakatty corridor), wedged between forested slopes and human developments along the foothills, is occupied by brick kiln industries and their sand quarry sites.

The report also said that the ecological impact caused by red soil excavation for brick kiln industries in flat lands along the forest boundary has also disrupted part of another corridor, comprising Vellingiri Andavar Kovil Foothills–Valkaradu–Chinnamalai–Maruthamalai foothills–Kanuvai hills–Mangarai–Madudanpathi– Kurudumalai's eastern slopes.

The synchronised elephant census in 2017 reported 2,761 elephants distributed across 26 forest divisions in Tamil Nadu, while the 2023 exercise indicated an estimated population of 2,961 elephants in the state.

Elephants are distributed across 20 of the 26 forest divisions in Tamil Nadu, covering 9,217.13 square km.