Research Article Gajah 39 (2013) 3-11

Past, Present and Future of Wild Elephants in Maharashtra, India

Prachi Mehta* and Jayant Kulkarni

Wildlife Research and Conservation Society, Pune, Maharashtra, India

*Corresponding author: prachimehta1@gmail.com

Abstract. From 2002 onwards, wild elephants began extending their range into
Maharashtra State from the adjoining state of Karnataka. At present, three groups
comprising a total of 11 elephants have become resident in Kolhapur and Sindhudurg
Districts of Maharashtra. The intensity of crop damage is high because the elephants are
feeding on plantation crops that are available throughout the year. From 2002 to 2013,
Maharashtra recorded 10,200 crop damage cases by elephants, 13 elephant deaths and 10
human deaths, and paid Rs. 90,248 million (US$ 1,641 million) as crop compensation to
farmers. Efforts are required to maintain the integrity of forests in the area by disallowing
commercial plantations. Involvement of farmers in crop guarding will help reduce crop
damage and quantum of ex-gratia payment.

Introduction Nawegaon Sanctuary in eastern Maharashtra

for capturing elephants suggesting that wild
Maharashtra State in western India did not have elephants may have entered the area many years
resident wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) ago (Chitampalli 1983). Therefore, it appears
in the recent past, though there are records of their that elephants have been making forays into the
sporadic presence. The 17th century Maharashtra eastern and western parts of Maharashtra State
Gazetteer mentions the presence of elephants in since a long time without becoming resident.
Dhule and Nandurbar Districts in North-Western
Maharashtra (Chitam-palli 1983). In 1940 the During early 1970s, North Kanara District had 5
Maharaja of Kolhapur introduced a few wild herds totalling about 130 elephants who roamed
elephants from Karnataka to the Radhanagri in the fragmented forests raiding crops and
Wildlife Sanctuary but the elephants returned to getting persecuted by farmers (Nair & Gadgil
Karnataka (Chitampalli 1983). In 1956 a tusker 1980; Prasad et al. 1980). By 1980, most of the
that ventured into the Amboli forest in Kolhapur elephants were shot by people and only 2 isolated
District from North Kanara District of Karnataka herds remained with very few elephants (Gadgil
was killed (Dharmakumarsinhji 1998). In 1960 1985; Daniels et al. 1995). Since 1997, the
another tusker entering Ajra Range in Kolhapur elephants in North Kanara made steady northward
District and damaging crops was chased away movements till they reached Maharashtra (Mehta
by local people to the forest of Chowkul in et al. 2011). In 1997 elephants from Dandeli-
Sindhudurg District and from there the elephant Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR) in North Kanara
returned to Karnataka (Dharmakumarsinhji moved north towards Golihalli and Nagargalli
1998). Ranges of Belgaum District, reaching Khanapur
in 2001. Kolhapur and Belgaum Districts of
The above incidents refer to the region of Western Karnataka are located on the Eastern side of
Maharashtra adjacent to Karnataka State. There the Western Ghats at an elevation of 500 to 700
are also some records pertaining to Eastern masl, while the coastal Sindhudurg District of
Maharashtra. An incident in the 1960s refers to Maharashtra is at a lower elevation. Between
a stray elephant herd from Orissa State venturing them are extremely steep escarpments of the
into Allapalli forests of eastern Maharashtra Western Ghats. There are very few routes that
(Chitampalli 1983). There are several pits in elephants can take to descend from the Deccan

3
plains to the coast across the escarpment. One At present (2013) there are three elephant groups
of the routes is from Maan Village in Belgaum in Maharashtra. One group consisting of a tusker,
District to Mangeli Village in Sindhudurg District a female, a juvenile and one calf is in Chandgad
that was used by elephants to enter Maharashtra Range of Kolhapur (DCF Kolhapur, pers.
for the first time in recent history. comm.). Another group consisting of a tusker,
2 females and 1 calf is in Kudal Range and the
The present instance of range extension of third group of 1 tusker, 1 female and 1 calf is near
elephants into Maharashtra began in November Tilari Reservoir in Sindhudurg District (DCF
2002 when a group of seven wild elephants Sawantwadi Division, pers. comm.).
entered Mangeli village of Sindhudurg District
in Southern Maharashtra. After staying in the Our study was carried out during 2007-08 and
area for two weeks they went back to Karnataka. 2010-11 to assess crop and economic damages
The elephants returned in April 2003 by the due to elephants and its impact in Maharashtra.
same route in a group of 11. There were sporadic
reports of 2, 5, 7 and 11 elephants making to Methods
and fro movements throughout the year. During
2004-05 the elephants extended their range to Study area
enter Sawantwadi Range of Sindhudurg District
and the state of Goa (Kulkarni et al. 2008). The study area comprising of Kolhapur and
Sindhudurg Districts, is located in southwest
In November 2004 the Forest Department Maharashtra (Fig. 1). Although Sindhudurg has
launched an operation wherein 16 elephants were higher forest cover (49.3% of the district) than
driven back to Karnataka, but four elephants Kolhapur (23.1% of the district), forests in both
remained behind. Meanwhile, in November 2004 districts are fragmented (Kulkarni & Mehta
another group of seven elephants from Karnataka 2013).
entered Chandgad Range of Kolhapur District in
Maharashtra. They left the next day but came Sindhudurg is the southernmost coastal district
again in a bigger group in February 2005 and of Maharashtra and lies between the Arabian Sea
remained in the area till May 2006. (Kulkarni et to its west and the Western Ghats on the east.
al. 2008). By 2007 the elephants consolidated Sindhudurg District has an altitude ranging from
their range in Maharashtra and settled in Kudal
Range of Sindhudurg District, and Chandgad
and Ajra Ranges of Kolhapur District (Fig. 2).
Gradually the elephants discovered other routes
for moving between Kolhapur and Sindhudurg
Districts. There were also some routes that were
used for crossing from Karnataka to Kolhapur
and from Sindhudurg to Goa.

In 2009, bowing to public pressure, the

Maharashtra Forest Department conducted an
operation to capture and translocate elephants
from Sindhudurg. Four elephants were captured.
Two died during the operation, one of which
was a juvenile that had previous injuries. The
remaining two were released near Kankumbhi
in Karnataka, which is about 100 km away from
the place they were captured, but both elephants
came back to the same region within a week. Figure 1. Map of Maharashtra-North Kanara
(RFO Sawantwadi, pers. comm.). landscape.

4
 Selectivity of individual crops by elephants
was estimated using Jacob’s selectivity index.
Selectivity is calculated using the formula:
S = (r - p) / (r + p - 2rp)
Where r is the proportion of crop damage cases
for the particular crop and p is the proportion of
area under the crop compared to total area under
crops in the district. Selectivity ranges from -1 to
1 where -1 indicates complete avoidance and 1
indicates high preference. Area under cultivation
for each crop was obtained from Agriculture
Department records. Value for crops damaged
was calculated according to Government rates.

Results and discussion

Figure 2. Range extension by elephants from
Karnataka to Maharashtra and Goa. Crop damage in Kolhapur District

sea level to 904 masl at Amboli. The main forest From 2004 to 2013, Kolhapur District recorded
types are tropical semi-evergreen and moist 3,254 cases of crop depredation by elephants. The
deciduous. Kolhapur District is located mainly on peak crop damage took place from 2005 to 2009.
the Deccan Plateau with its western border lying From 2004 to 2013, Kolhapur District paid Rs.
on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. The 8.14 million (US$ 148,000) as ex-gratia payment
main forest types are tropical semi-evergreen, to the affected farmers. The total number of crop
moist mixed deciduous and dry deciduous. damages in Sindhudurg from 2002 to 2013 was
almost twice that of Kolhapur with 6,946 cases
Methodology reported for which a total ex-gratia payment of
Rs. 82 million (US$ 1.49 million) was paid.
The entry points of elephants from Karnataka to
Maharashtra and movement of elephants between Of the two affected forest ranges in Kolhapur
Kolhapur and Sindhudurg were identified by District, Chandgad Range was most affected by
field surveys and interviews with local villagers crop depredation by elephants. Of 3254 cases,
and Forest Department field staff. The identified 2042 (62 %) were in Chandgad Range (Fig. 3).
entry points and routes were surveyed on foot From 2011 onwards, elephants were active again
and GPS positions taken (Fig. 2). Data on crop in Chandgad and Ajra Ranges. From 2002 to
damages and ex-gratia payment was obtained 2013, Rs. 4.9 million (US$ 89,000) has been paid
from the Forest Department and used to derive for crop damage in Chandgad Range (Fig. 4).
patterns of elephant movement.

Figure 3. Range-wise crop damage cases in Figure 4. Range-wise ex-gratia paid in Kolhapur
Kolhapur District. District.

5
Figure 5. Range-wise crop damage cases for Figure 6. Range-wise ex-gratia payment for
Sindhudurg District. Sindhudurg District.

Crop damage in Sindhudurg District crops damaged were coconut (30 % of cases),
paddy (28%), banana (15%), areca nut (13%)
In Sindhudurg District, Dodamarg Range had and bamboo (5%). Together these five crops
the most (40 %) crop damage cases followed by accounted for 89% of crop damage cases. The
Kudal (27 %) Sawantwadi (21%) and Kadawal crop damage in Sindhudurg was heavily tilted
Ranges (11%). In 2007-09, crop damage reached towards plantation crops since these formed a
a peak in Dodamarg Range with 640 cases. From high percentage of the area under cultivation.
2009 onwards crop damage in Dodamarg Range
decreased while it began to show an increase in Annual pattern of crop damage
Kudal and Sawantwadi Ranges (Fig. 5).
In Kolhapur, crop raiding mainly takes place
In Sindhudurg District, highest ex-gratia of Rs. from January to May and then again in November
40 million (US$ 0.75 million) has been paid in and December with a peak in February. There is
Dodamarg Range, followed by Kudal Range (Rs. hardly any raiding from June to October (Fig.
19 million, US$ 0.35 million) and Sawantwadi 9). Sugarcane raiding is much higher than other
Range (Rs. 10 million, US$ 0.21 million; Fig. 6). crops for all months except November when it is
surpassed by paddy. In Kolhapur, paddy forms
Types of crops damaged the major proportion of raids on cereal crops.
Sugarcane is raided for seven months of the
In Kolhapur sugarcane was the prime target year, followed by paddy (5 months), banana and
of elephants forming 57% of all crop damage maize (3 months) and sweet potato (2 months).
cases (Fig. 7). Other crops such as paddy (7%) Other crops such as coconut, groundnut, cashew,
and banana (5%) were raided in much lower jackfruit, finger millet and bamboo are raided
proportions. In Sindhudurg (Fig. 8) the main for a period of 2 to 3 months. Incidence of raids
on banana are recorded from February to May,
maize from January to May, and Sweet potato in

Figure 7. Types of crops damaged by elephants Figure 8. Types of crop damaged by elephants
in Kolhapur District. in Sindhudurg District.

6
Figure 9. Monthly pattern of crop damage in
Kolhapur District.
Figure 11. Selectivity for various crops in
December. There are a few cases of depredation Chandgad and Dodamarg Ranges.
on chilli from June to September.
Surprisingly, selectivity for coconut is negative
The crop depredation pattern in Sindhudurg is in Sindhudurg though most people consider
distinctly different from Kolhapur as it occurs coconut to be a highly preferred food plant of
throughout the year (Fig. 10). The number of elephants (Fig. 11).
cases of non-cereal crops is much higher than
cereal crops in most months. From July onwards Economic value of crop damage
the number of cases of cereal crops increases and
is highest in October. The cases of cereal crops The plantation crops coconut and areca nut show
are mostly paddy with a few of finger millet. a high economic value while paddy shows a much
Raiding of cereal crops is quite high from July to lower economic value of damage. Economic
November corresponding to the paddy and finger value of damage to banana is also higher than
millet ripening season. Damage to coconut is paddy though the area under banana crop is much
fairly high in most months of the year. Elephants lower than paddy (Tables 1 & 2).
raid coconut and paddy for 9 months of the year,
banana for 10 months, areca nut, bamboo and Table 1. Area (in ha) of individual crops damaged
jackfruit for 3 to 4 months. by elephants (2005-06).
Crop Chandgad Dodamarg and
Crop selectivity and area damaged Range Sawantwadi
Paddy 8.9 82.6
Elephants show a high preference for banana, Sugarcane 86.0
areca nut and coconut in Dodamarg Range of
Coconut 73.1
Sindhudurg District. They show a high preference
Banana 0.4 23.0
for sugarcane in Chandgad Range of Kolhapur
District. Paddy is a preferred crop in both sites. Cashew nut 1.0 12.7
Areca nut 12.2
Finger millet 2.0 3.1
Sweet potato 4.5
Bamboo 4.4
Jackfruit 3.5
Mango 1.9
Groundnut 1.2
Potato 0.3
Chilli 0.3
Maize 0.2
Figure 10. Monthly pattern of crop damage in Teak 0.1
Sindhudurg District. Total 104.8 216.6

7
Table 2. Estimated value of damage (in US$) to In Dodamarg and Sawantwadi Ranges of
major crops in the two Districts (2005-06). Sindhudurg district many commercial plantation
Crop Sindhudurg Kolhapur owners are residents of South India. The farms
Coconut 132,810 - are managed by employees and often crop
protection measures are not in place. Because of
Areca nut 48,982 -
the large farm size and amount of crops damaged
Banana 8,272 - the Forest Department has to pay large amounts
Paddy 4,090 - of compensation. A few such farmers have
Sugarcane - 25,000 received payments of Rs. 600,000 to 1,500,000
Total 194,154 25,000 (US$ 10,900 to 27,000) while the subsistence
farmers whose agricultural crops are damaged
Ex-gratia payment cannot get more than the prescribed upper
limit of Rs. 15,000 (US$ 267) (Kulkarni et al.
About 325 crop damage cases are recorded every 2008). Although the quantity of crop damaged
year in Kolhapur District for which on average and monetary loss may be less in the case of a
Rs. 2,400 (US$ 44) is paid, while in Sindhudurg marginal farmer, he suffers more because he loses
District almost double the number i.e. 630 cases a large share of his food production for the year.
are recorded per year with an average of Rs. At present plantation owners can get unlimited
12,000 (US$ 220) paid (Table 3). The amount paid ex-gratia payment. Therefore there is no pressure
in Sindhudurg District is much higher because on them to protect their crops. In Zimbabwe,
the majority of cases related to plantation crops Kenya and Mozambique, 80 % reduction in crop
such as coconut and areca nut that have a high damage was observed where the farmers took
ex-gratia payment rate of Rs. 2000 per tree (US$ up active guarding in their own fields (Parker &
40) as they are considered high value crops. The Anstey 2002; Parker et al. 2007). Linking ex-
main crop in Kolhapur District is sugarcane, the gratia payment to crop guarding measures taken
ex-gratia payment rate for which is relatively low by the farmers may motivate farmers to actively
at Rs. 400 (US$ 7) per ton. guard the crops.

Ex-gratia payment is a relief to the affected Encounters with elephants

farmer and therefore it should not be a means of
monetary benefit. While the ex-gratia payment Since 2002, 10 human deaths and 21 human
for each coconut tree was Rs. 2000 (US$ 36), the injury cases have taken place due to conflict with
plantation owners are demanding Rs. 5000 (US$ elephants in Kolhapur and Sindhudurg Districts.
91) to bring it on par with the rate in Goa State. There have been no deaths in Kolhapur District
since 2006. In Sindhudurg District the last death
Table 3. Average ex-gratia payment (in US$) per was in 2008. The number of human injury cases
case for crop depredation in the two Districts. was higher in Sindhudurg District than Kolhapur
Year Kolhapur Sindhudurg District (Table 4).
2003-04 - 310
In the initial period when elephants arrived
2004-05 48 283
in Maharashtra, there was very little public
2005-06 73 257 awareness on keeping a safe distance from wild
2006-07 48 283
2007-08 44 174 Table 4. Total ex-gratia paid (in US$) for human
2008-09 24 255 deaths and injury from 2004 to 2013.
2009-10 42 77 District Deaths Ex-gratia Injury Ex-gratia
2010-11 34 228 Kolhapur 5 14,544 6 2,096
2011-12 39 178 Sindhudurg 5 18,180 15 10,519
2012-13 75 180 Total 10 32,744 21 12,615

8
elephants. All the encounters between people and and fodder plots, and construction of elephant
elephants took place in daytime. Therefore it is proof trenches (EPT) and solar fences. The
likely the people failed to detect the presence barriers are constructed between Maharashtra
of elephants or did not realize the risk of being and Karnataka state, on the Reserve Forest
close to elephants. For example a forest labourer boundaries and district boundaries.
lost his life as he was fascinated by a sub-adult
elephant and ventured closer for a better look. Management of elephant conflict in Maharashtra
In some cases, especially in Gadhinglaj Taluka
of Kolhapur District, people took to pelting the EPTs and solar fences in Maharashtra have
animals with stones. In one such incident the several drawbacks (Kulkarni & Mehta 2011).
elephant charged and killed one person. Three Firstly streams and water courses are common.
persons were injured during elephant driving It is impossible to construct EPTs across streams
operations in Sindhudurg District. and gaps remain. Secondly the entire landscape
is occupied by humans. Because of this there
Elephant deaths are roads and pathways that cross barriers
everywhere and this defeats the very purpose of
There have been 13 elephant deaths in barriers. Most government owned solar fences
Maharashtra between 2002 and 2010. Of were dysfunctional owing to lack of maintenance
these, 7 elephant deaths have been recorded in while privately owned fences were in working
Kolhapur District and 6 in Sindhudurg District condition. In Karnataka, poor performance of
(Table 5). Although most elephant deaths have Forest Department constructed barriers was
been classified as natural deaths, many of them attributed to lack of responsibility of maintenance
are due to retaliatory actions by the farmers in (Nath & Sukumar 1998; Kulkarni et al. 2007).
Maharashtra and Goa.
Managing elephants in Sindhudurg is difficult
Conflict mitigation measures taken by Forest because of the hilly terrain and high interspersion
Department of private land and forest. The forest blocks in
Kolhapur are less fragmented than Sindhudurg
The Kolhapur and Sawantwadi Divisions are and the terrain in Chandgad and Ajra Ranges is
following various practices to manage the relatively flat, so it is easier to manage elephants
human-elephant conflict in their area. This in Kolhapur. Managing conflict with elephants
includes regular tracking of elephants in order to effectively requires minimizing crop damage
alert farmers of elephant presence in their area, by active crop guarding by local farmers and
conducting elephant drives, making water holes preventing encounters with elephants.

Table 5. Elephant deaths in Kolhapur and Sindhudurg Districts from 2006 to 2010.
Year Range Location Deaths Composition Cause of Death
2006 Chandgad Jelugade 4 3 Females, 1 Male Electrocution
2006 Radhanagri Pharale 1 1 Male Pneumonia
2008 Chandgad Patne 2 2 Males Falling into well
Total Kolhapur District 7
2004 Sawantwadi Shrirange 1 Calf Malnutrition
2009 Kudal 2 Male During tranquillization
and capture operation
2009 Nivaje 1 Sub-adult female Worm infection
2009 Bawlat near Danoli 1 Male calf Wounds on mouth and
hip inflicted by people
2010 Kudal Rangana Tulsuli 1 Male Natural
Total Sindhudurg District 6

9
At present many villagers in Dodamarg Range the conflict as local people are unwilling to
in Sindhudurg District are selling private forest take active steps to prevent crop damage. We
land and farmland to plantation owners from suggest initiation of community-based conflict
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These entrepreneurs management by introducing low-cost and simple
clear existing forests and now plant oil palm, crop protection measures such as setting up
rubber, coconut and banana (Fig. 12). In Mangeli community guarding and use of trip alarms,
the local community owns large areas of land in chilly smoke, chilly rope and bee-hive fences in
a system known as community forest or Kumri. the area to keep the elephants out of crop fields.
The total Kumri land with the community is Implementing such initiatives in North Kanara
nearly 10,000 acres (Kulkarni & Mehta 2013). region has met with considerable success (Mehta
Conversion of these private forests to plantations et al. 2011; Mehta 2012).
will result in forest fragmentation and may
increase human-elephant conflict. The forest in Future of elephants in South Maharashtra -
Chandgad Range is subject to anthropogenic North Karnataka
pressure and encroachment, causing degradation
of elephant habitat. These should be protected Presence of a small population of elephants
and restored. in Maharashtra does not add much to the
conservation value of elephants as a whole.
Importance of involving local community However it has greater significance as these
elephants are part of the North Kanara elephant
Studies on human wildlife conflict have population. An inter-state elephant reserve will
indicated that for successful conflict resolution help in preventing further fragmentation of forests
decentralization of responsibility is very in this region. There needs to be coordination
important (Osborn & Anstey 2002). Whenever and dialogue between forest officers of the two
the entire responsibility of reducing the conflict states in terms of objectives, strategy and action
is on the government, it has met with poor results to be taken for management of elephants. A
(Hill et al. 2002; Osborn & Parker 2002; Kulkarni broader view is also necessary in terms of species
et al. 2008; Zimmerman et al. 2009; Mehta et al. conservation beyond day to day management of
2011). Under the present system in Maharashtra human elephant conflict. Although the number of
while the government spends a lot of money elephants in Maharashtra is very few at present,
in installing fences, barriers, conducting drive it is likely to increase in the future. This has value
operations, vigilance, patrolling and making for long-term elephant conservation across the
ex-gratia payments to affected people, local two States.
communities act as observers. This culture
of dependency is not effective in resolving Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministry of Environment and

Forests, New Delhi for a grant, which enabled
this study. We are grateful to Maharashtra Forest
Department for granting permission for the study
and to officers of Kolhapur and Sawantwadi
Divisions for logistic support. We thank
Prithiviraj Fernando for his valuable inputs that
helped in improving the manuscript. We thank
Umesh Hiremath for fieldwork on this project.

References

Figure 12. Community forest in Mangeli Village Chitampalli M (1983) Pakshi Jay Digantara.
being cleared for rubber plantation. B.L. Kulkarni, Nagpur, India. pp 119-130.

10
Daniels RJR, Gadgil M & Joshi NV (1995). Mehta P (2012) How to Protect your Crops
Impact of human extractions on tropical humid from Elephants. A Handy Guide for Farmers
forests in the Western Ghats of Uttar Kannada, and Forest Department. Wildlife Research and
South India. J. of Applied Ecology 32: 832-864. Conservation Society, Pune.

Dharmakumarsinhji RS (1998) Reminiscences of Nair VP & Gadgil M (1980) The status and
Indian Wildlife. Oxford University Press, New distribution of elephant population of Karnataka.
Delhi. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society
75: 1000-1016.
Gadgil M (1985) Status of wild mammals in
Karnataka. In: State of Environment Report, Nath C & Sukumar R (1998) Elephant-Human
Karnataka. Chapter 6. pp 22-34. Conflict in Kodagu, Southern India: Distribution
Patterns, People’s Perceptions and Mitigation
Hill C, Osborn F & Plumptre AJ (2002) Human- Methods. Unpublished report, Asian Elephant
Wildlife Conflict: Identifying the Problem and Conservation Centre, Bangalore.
Possible Solutions. Albertine Rift Technical
Report Series Vol. 1. Wildlife Conservation Osborn FE & Anstey SG (2002) Elephant/
Society. Human Conflict and Community Development
around the Niassa Reserve, Mozambique. Field
Kulkarni J, Mehta P, Boominathan D & Chaudhuri Training in Community-Based Crop Protection
S (2007). A Study of Man-Elephant Conflict MZEP. Report to WWF SARPO.
in Nagarhole National Park and Surrounding
Areas of Kodagu District in Karnataka, India. Osborn FE & Parker GA (2002) Living
Final Report, Envirosearch, Pune. with Elephants II. MZEP, Chisipite, Harare,
Zimbabwe.
Kulkarni J, Mehta P & Hiremath U (2008) Man-
Elephant Conflict in Sindhudurg and Kolhapur Parker GE, Osborn FV, Hoare RE & Niskanen
Districts of Maharashtra, India; Case Study of LS (eds) (2007) Human-Elephant Conflict
a State Coming to Terms with Presence of Wild Mitigation: A Training Course for Community-
Elephants. Final Report, Envirosearch, Pune. based Approaches in Africa.

Kulkarni J & Mehta P (2011) Action Plan for Parker GE & Anstey S (2002) Human-Elephant
the Management of Elephants in Maharashtra. Conflict and Community Development in Niassa
Submitted to Maharashtra Forest Department, Province, Mozambique. Report on Field Training
Wildlife Research and Conservation Society, and Implementation of Community-based Crop
Pune. Protection Methods, Matchedje Village, Sanga
District, Niassa Province. MZEP Report to
Kulkarni J & Mehta P (2013) A Study of Status, WWF SARPO.
Distribution and Dynamics of Private and
Community Forests in Sahyadri-Konkan Corridor Prasad NP, Nair V, Sharachandra H & Gadgil
of Maharashtra Western Ghats. Technical Report M (1980) On factors governing the distribution
submitted to CEPF-ATREE, Wildlife Research of wild mammals in Karnataka. Journal of the
and Conservation Society, Pune. Bombay Natural History Society 75: 718-743.

Mehta P, Kulkarni J & Hiremath U (2011) Pilot Zimmermann A, Davies TE, Hazarika N, Wilson
Project for Mitigation of Human Elephant S, Chakrabarty J, Hazarika B & Das D (2009)
Conflict in North Kanara District, Karnataka, Community-based human-elephant conflict
India. Report submitted to CEPF-Atree management in Assam. Gajah 30: 34-40.
Western Ghats Program, Wildlife Research and
Conservation Society, Pune.

11