Bamboo and Elephants

It is believed that Bamboo and Elephants have adamantine bonding. Bamboo is an elephant’s favorite fodder crop inside the forest. In the present scenario, though the consumable bamboo productivity is increasing nationwide; it has drastically declined for elephants as fodder crop after the 2010-12 flowering in Karnataka, especially in Kodagu landscape. Simultaneously, extensive invasion of weed is another one of the accountable factors which hinder fodder crops in dry and moist deciduous forests of Karnataka. It is presumed that lack of fodder and drying up of water source inside forest are forcing elephants out. For better comprehension of the ground reality, WGNF has come up with the project “Assessment of bamboo regeneration, fodder resources and human-elephant conflicts in buffer zones of Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarahole) of Kodagu district”.

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Presently in Kodagu, human and elephant conflict (HEC) is one of the major problems faced by the people living around these forest areas. Ecological and feeding behavior of elephants revolves around availability of food source in and around their territories; bamboo is a prominent fodder source of elephants. In Kodagu, forest fire and grazing also influence the regeneration and establishment of bamboos.

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Partners and Funding: Karnataka Forest Department

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