Dr Basappanavar, a former Chief Conservator of Forests and an expert appointed to assist the High Court in the matter of serial deaths of elephants, cites forest fires as a reason for straying of pachyderms into human territory.

Popularly known as ‘Elephant Man’, Dr Basappanavar will be submitting a report on the issue to the High Court soon. “We do not have natural forest fires in this part of the world. Its the fire caused by human beings, occurring more in the core of the forest and not in the buffer zone that is wrecking havoc”, he told Deccan Herald.

The forest fire which spreads rapidly reduces the grass cover and prevents rejuvenation of grass, the food for most of the herbivorous animals. Elephant being a large mammal thrives on grass, edible leaves and fruits. The animal will naturally stray into human territory in search of food. Miscreants set fire in the forest since they need visibility to hunt or trace horns of antelope and chitals, he said.

As a solution, Dr Basappanavar suggested department take up a sort of controlled burning once in two years. “It is a way of protecting the food source for the herbivores and the best season to take up the task is during the month of September or October when grass is still green”

Dr Basappanavar who has studied the elephant behaviour throughout the country has classified problems into natural causes, man-made causes and human related causes. Apart from habitat shrinkage due to river valley projects, logging, pressure for fuel wood, poaching and change in cropping pattern are some of the reasons for the increasing instances of straying.

He has suggested specifying time limits for settlement of compensation for crop damage and loss of life, classifying poaching as crime, and standardising census technique to determine population and health of habitat as remedies.